Hunter's Log
by Archer1eye
Summary: I said I'd start up this journal once I got to the New World to chronicle my adventures. (Not Self-Insert, HunterxHandler f/f)
1. Entry 1

August 24, Day 1: Part 1 - Arrival?

The ship I sailed in on, I never did catch its name, the Argosy being the only known New World fleet vessel to ever be in reports didn't help, was smooth sailing for the longest time. I thought I'd finally get a drink and maybe finally figure out who my partner would be. All I knew was black hair, usually around food, and maybe the most inquisitive handler among them.

That description only helped if I talked to her first. It also didn't help that other than some really loud redheaded mohawk sporting drunk in chainmail, most everyone had black hair.

Wanting to avoid such noise, I went towards the only table with a single person at it, and probably the third girl to maybe fit the description I had. Unfortunately being one of the best means also being quick to be noticed, and that redheaded guy thought to casually saunter over, knock all the books of the handler I'd yet to get a chance to speak with around, and started to try and make small talk.

Too. Fucking. Loud. The whole damn ship could hear him, and I later realized, yes, they did. His handler also showed up, and yes, by this point I am simply venting the lack of help that damned description was because lo and behold another fit for it.

The girl, in her handler's outfit of a yellow dress like vest with buckles, white flowery cape, brown undershirt, and black leggings, at least had the decency to be polite and ask my name first. We all did, the guy was named Boyce, the girl Helen, and I gave them my first name, Elizabeth.

Boyce then began rambling about his thoughts on the elder crossing, it made me bet with myself he came here specifically to see said elder dragons. It then got brought up that A-listers, us hunter's who were acknowledged for past skills, worked in pairs. Said pair wanted to meet my handler who I still had yet to meet damn it!

Anyways, as they asked, yet another fucking girl of the given description began to move. She rushed towards an opening in the ship, binoculars lowered to gaze more intently out at sea.

As I approached her in hopes to get away from the noisy duo that chased away the original person seated at the table, I silently prayed she was my apparently elusive partner Lillian, she began to mumble about the waters getting worse. I didn't immediately notice, but within seconds the ship launched sideways, and threw my footing off.

The girl and I rushed out of the hill of the ship with the hope of seeing what hit us.

Big. Mistake.

We apparently hit a volcano or something of the sort because yet again our vessel got launched around and everything suddenly was on fire even with the sea, wind, and sudden drizzle that looking back was probably said volcano's splash upon saying hello.

Anyways, we hit something big and on fire, and soon we seemed to be too. I'm not sure if it was the unknown handler or myself who started screaming. It was such a blur, falling, catching a random board of the ship, then falling again. It seemed only the girl, my palico buddy Herald, and myself were the only ones not braced for this impact.

… That's actually really embarrassing looking back on it.

We fell off the vessel and onto hard lava rock. How I knew it's lava rock, is the amounts of said molten stone that flowed around me. I stuck the landing, but it stung in my legs. I didn't get the chance to process that as my adrenaline began to flow freely through me, a hunter's ever present companion, upon hearing the girl call out for survivors.

We quickly took stock of it being just the two of us before we rushed forwards, having almost forgotten about the ship until we heard it creak and groan above us.

I still don't know how they did it, but the crew apparently kept the damned thing intact and had it begin sailing off the definitely walking volcano we were on. Being used to terrible scenarios and ill prepared, neither of us flinched at having lost our ship. Instead we aimed to get higher up and see what the hell we hit.

The climb wasn't fun. I got hit by rocks and still wonder how my leather vest, boots, and gloves didn't come away no longer intact after a splash or two of lava I didn't notice until I felt it. At the top of the "landmass," we finally got a glimpse at what happened.

We somehow got shipwrecked on a fucking elder dragon. I knew we tracked one here, but I'm pretty sure crashing into it is not phase one of observation. At least the small wyverns in the area looked strong enough to carry us. Pink leathery bird like things with long mouths meant to pierce flesh for the goods inside.

I ran, slid, and jumped off the blackened rock that I've already come to hate, and pulled a stunt I hope doesn't become habit for me. I launched my slinger in an empty state as a grappling hook. Let me tell you how nice a slingshot crossbow hybrid strapped to a wrist is. It saved both mine and the other girl's lives quite easily. The rope arrow latched on smoothly and I had just barely caught my companion in this mess when things settled down.

It became smooth flying for a short time after that. Long enough at least to exchange names with the girl who this close up I couldn't deny seemed kind of cute with the look of awe and wonder stuck on her face.

Guess what? It actually was my assigned partner. That gave me a laugh, I finally found my partner and we had one hell of an icebreaker. I can definitely say after that, I knew I was in good hands.

That was of course all the time we had before the sight of the forest before us took our breaths away. A tree that seemed to try and pierce the sky stood before us with multiple others of a more reasonable height surrounded it. I say reasonable, but everything was huge. Perks of being untouched territory until forty some years ago I guess.

The sight was impressive, but we were literally jerked to reality as our ride ran out of energy and crashed us into the trees. How we crashed right above a campsite I don't know, but I stocked it up to just one more chance encounter of this crazy adventure.

The camp fortunately had a book, part of which I'm writing this journal into, and an incomplete map of the nearby area. It was enough to guide us out towards where we could see The Commission's base of operations on the eastern horizon.

Unfortunately for us, the shortest path was obstructed and we had to take a roundabout way through roots and caves. This led us to a Jagras colony. Those yellow four legged lizards were vicious. They only hesitated long enough to have good numbers with them, six I believe, before they charged and surrounded us as a pack.

Lillian found hiding fast enough, but I had to give them a chase first before I too could vanish from these beasts. Let it be known, they don't use smell to track, and their eyes aren't that good in bright conditions. My light pink almost white hair, while only cropped to my chin in a rough mess still stood out in those leaves I hid in quickly. Also I still smelled of fire and ash, and sweat. Oh boy was I sweating up a storm by this point. Too much heat, then a flight and multiple crashes and chases, I needed a bath.

After the Jagras colony lost me in those bushes and left for more obvious prey, my partner and I moved eastward again, only for her to find footprints she just had to track. Next thing we knew, I was too far away and a Great Jagras rushed her. Translation, he was big, maybe three times the size if not even larger than the regular beasties we just ran from, and equally as vicious.

Our luck really was something today, because by the time I was nearby, a guy in an open blue shirt revealing massive muscles and jeans that seemed fitting with the six foot sword equal in height to him on his back jumped off a nearby ledge onto the Great Jagras. His weight toppled the monster off of Lillian before she could get away safely. I unfortunately was now following all of them towards headquarters.

The next bit of madness is still haunting me. How are you supposed to react to a bipedal purple beast of pure lean muscle and sinew. The beast clamped massive jaws around the Great Jagras and tossed it around effortlessly before going back to ramming it's equally long as it tail into the smaller beast. The mystery man and Lillian were egging me on to get a move on, but how in the hell was I to circumnavigate the battle of giants before me?

Answer, I didn't go around. I went through, nearly got stepped on twice, then had to jump to get within the boundary safely before the gate to headquarters dropped, a tail apparently having been centimeters from having slapped me away from my destination. My side hurts thinking about that.

* * *

Day 1: Part 2 - Astera

We made it. The fifth fleet, ship and all beat us there apparently, and they sure were impressed we found them before they found us. The man introduced himself as Dorian Sace, leader of the field team. He then led us to the commander of the Commission, and his grandfather. A man who seemed up there in age based on his pure white hair contrasting with his black skin, and the old wise gaze that seemed to pierce everything.

He was definitely an imposing figure, and I could already tell he was worth respecting. He had Dorian guide us around the city. Astera was impressive. Each fleet that came through then seemed to dismantle and build onto the already massive encampment. They even somehow got a ship caught about fifty meters up between two cliff faces. It's going to be a personal goal to hear how that got put there.

Dorian gave us a brief tour, to which I'm grateful for after everything else today. The second fleet apparently had turned into the smithy. It was rather hot in the expansive forge that used to be the hull of a ship lodged into the side of a mountain. Getting to it was simply a massive stairway connecting the tradeyard, or as my mind sees it ground floor, to a deck out front of the ship. The deck also led on up another flight of stairs to the canteen.

That was when I learned exactly how hungry Lillian and I were. We immediately rushed to the counter sat down and ordered meat platters. The head chef was a rather muscular palico, so I guess he'd rather be called meowscular. Palico may look like bipedal cats, but they are just as smart as humans, and boy could those who worked under the meowscular chef cook. I didn't note what went into the meal, but I saw fires, spices, and a roast the size of my torso. That was simply my platter.

Suffice to say, I was drooling and full, and pretty sure that meal had my body pumping ready to exert some extra energy. Fortunately or not, we were told by Dorian we had to go to a meeting underway. The Commander was just doing a debriefing at first. The elder dragon we'd been chasing was named Zorah Magdoros, and upon landfall his trail went cold. Odd considering it's a walking volcano, and large enough a boat full of twenty or more people with room to spare could get stranded on it without the thing noticing.

At least we knew why the trail was cold, Zorah apparently had the wildlife stirred up something fierce, or it was speculated it did. Only here three hours and already off on hunting quests. I guess it's only fair how Lillian and I gave everyone a scare with our disappearance during the apparently only sort of a shipwreck shipwreck.

Dorian showed us to our rooms so I could finally get my hands on something more my style. The room was in the words of the housekeeping palico, totally not a renovated closet space for sleeping quarters, and they do apologize for the total lack of privacy between roommates. At least my journal is in my hunter book so they know not to touch it.

Anyhow, aside from the make do atmosphere of the room which was cozier than it sounds considering the area, it seemed natural, I went for the storage box. Calling the trunk that could hide four adults comfortably within it a box seems wrong, but considering the size of literally everything, I guess it is a box in comparison.

I'm rambling too much, being in the New World, most likely never returning home, is sinking in with each written word. Back to the story.

I grabbed an insect, kinsect? whichever it's called, glaive with a culldrome to harvest extracts. This polearm is very suitable for me, my slender build of lean muscle, mixed with my average height means the maneuverability of it worked great. I couldn't wait to flutter around my prey yet again using the two sided blade to vault up and around.

Unfortunately Jagras are too small for theatrics to be practical. There was no story in hunting them. It was just a test of my skill alongside dealing with some excess wildlife. It is interesting to note that there was nothing new with their environment, their numbers were simply swelling with Zorah's approach.

The hunt didn't even take twenty minutes. It was that uneventful, only thing of note was getting my bearings with the culldrome. The beetle like machine that harvests extracts, it was a good distraction while I twirled through the little lizards.

Unsurprisingly immediately upon my return from the Field Captain's test, we had another assignment. Some Kestodon were acting up.

* * *

Day 1: Part 3 - Finding a trail

Kestodon, by comparison to most monsters are small creatures, even though they stand as tall as me if not taller with age. They stand on their hind legs and have their club-like tails to counterbalance their forward leaning partially armored bodies. Their hides are notably hard enough to dull my simple glaive before a group of five were all dead. That was upsetting to me, especially when one used it's hardened skull plate to charge into me.

We quickly found out why they were acting up though, a Great Jagras was being extra aggressive and feasting. The thing swallowed a Kestodon whole before my eyes, engorging its stomach to the size of its now digesting meal.

Lillian informed me our objective had changed to change uponthat sight. The Kestodon problem wouldn't be solved until that Great Jagras was dealt with. That was fine by me, it let me test my glaive's other capabilities.

Tracking the beast was simple, it's footprints were deep thanks to its added weight, and the engorged stomach dragged every so often. It didn't notice me at first, most likely thought I wasn't a threat, then I leapt onto its back and hacked away with my knife.

The Great Jagras flailed, desperate to get the insect on its back off, but I wouldn't let go. I hacked a large enough area open, leaving it raw and torn because the knife really couldn't dig in to moving hide, and then pulled out my glaive and swung the purely bladed end repeatedly at it, cutting away until the beast fell over.

Regular Jagras swarmed around their fallen family member, hoping to stave me off to no avail. I twirled my blades about, carving through them and hitting my main target before it got back up.

Simply put, I was soundly distracted when stomach first it rolled on top of me and used its weight to smash me. Basic leather armor, don't mock it. It held and gave me the room and flexibility I needed to get out of that crushed position.

It appeared upset its next meal had begun to fight back. That was both good and bad. Good because it meant I wasn't the only one with tunnel vision in the fight, bad because it was pissed, and big pissed things tend to rush other things. They especially love charging at annoyances, like a human girl twirling a painful stick and directing a metal bulb into tackling it.

The first charge got me, I wasn't ready for it to be that fast, and I felt my body get what'd become an impressive bruise by tomorrow from the force. After that I'd learned my lesson, and Herald had arrived with vigorwasps. The wasps themselves aren't of note, but they generate a fluid reminiscent of health potions, which invigorate the body, helping keep oneself conscious after repeatedly getting smacked around.

I could feel adrenaline course through me, getting my body moving faster again. It meant the next rush I successfully vaulted over and landed on its back again. Carving its back up yet again, dirt having coated the old marks, I repeated my opening strategy. It toppled, and this time I had no distractions as I focused on cleaving it up.

My blades didn't go much deeper than flesh, but all those little marks wore on it, and mixed with a few deeper gashes on its face, it had become rather weak. It could barely use its forelegs from pain it seemed, causing it to try flopping on top of me instead of tackling me.

This made it easier to position myself for better attacks, tearing into other flanks, leaving no limb spared. I kept it's tail to my side so as to avoid getting hit by it. After that scene at the gate to Astera, I really didn't want to think about being swatted away.

It gave one last tackle, which was more a writhing mass of pain on its end than anything, and missed. Jumping over the beast became easier as the fight extended, and by that point, it was so close to death that my blade slamming into its skull was the final sound before it fell dead.

I had Herald signal for Lillian and Dorian to come to me now that the hunting was over and the area was cleared. Lillian showed her skill set immediately and found us a clue forward. A few blue feathers that stood out. I had overlooked them in the rush of combat, and Dorian was more trained for simply fighting it looked like. Smart man, just not aware of oddities.

Lillian followed the feathers deep into the forest, Dorian and I on her heels ready to defend the defenseless handler. What we found was a sight. A molten spike of slag obstructing a path, and a weird winged wyvern, a Pukei-Pukei frothing poison at the mouth, spitting at the obstacle.

I made sure on the way back to draw up the beast to speculate how to combat such a thing, I know I'll be back for it eventually. The Pukei-Pukei had two sturdy legs and stood like a bird with its wings tucked to its sides with dark blue feathers. Its tail was oddly ringed, the entirety of it a back and forth between green and purple. The face I'm finding hard to put to words. It's a face for sure, large eyes spread wide over a mouth, no beak, and small fangs hidden by a long massive tongue. I'm not sure what I should expect other than poison when putting up with this thing.

The return trip to Astera was calm and without incident somehow. At our arrival we immediately held a council to discuss our findings. Apparently tomorrow's job will be to help restore a camp deep in the Ancient Forest as the Commission has named it.

Considering today, I can only hope nothing goes horribly wrong again. I'll write about that after it happens. For now, I'm getting some air and dinner with Lillian. It's about time we actually got to talk.

* * *

Evening 1 - An Eventful Day

"Hey you made it!" Lillian's smile shines brightly under sparkling blue eyes brimming with joy. The open area is welcome sight with exhaustion taking over my body. I ache so much, I simply give a wave in response at first.

When I get within earshot I manage a few words though, "I mean after all this, I'd be dumb not to get an opportunity to sit down."

She gives a warm smile before gesturing to the seat opposite her. "Go ahead then. I'm sure you're done for the day. Three jobs done just like that and you somehow are still going."

I ungracefully drop onto the stump that is what the New World considers a chair, and gaze between her and the sunset. We are so high up at the canteen, just a deck overhanging the tradeyard, the view is unhindered by foliage or buildings. The breathtaking view is only interrupted by gazing at my partner, her joy easing my stiff muscles. "I don't know how. Weeks off on a boat were not good for my constitution."

With that, she actually lets out a light giggle before waving a palico over with two meat platters. "In that case, we should eat now, chat after!"

The giant roast makes my stomach turn in hunger. I wasn't aware I burnt so much off while fighting and running. "That sounds perfect to me."

Shockingly, we both finished our giant meals yet again. I honestly wonder exactly how different we are from say a Jagras with how much our stomachs can hold. I decide to voice this thought getting an uproarious laugh from my partner.

"I can understand that, but I'm pretty sure I could eat the chef out of ingredients if I didn't have a budget."

"I'm actually glad the pay is good. If I'm getting injured by something like a Great Jagras, I'm going to need covered."

We both share a light laugh at the tale of that fight and my need to get back into things before we calm down again. "So Lillian, how was your first day in the New World?"

Her eyes get that sparkle of joy again as she goes quiet to find a good response. "I read the reports like everyone else, but I'm pretty sure nobody expected our first day to go this uniquely. The fact we are still standing may lead to them making us spearhead every job. It's amazing, we might get first dibs on everything!"

I smile, swept up in her excitement. "Yeah, it sure was a beautiful start." Our eyes lock for a bit before the sun clips the corner of my eye and I avert my gaze. "The view is incredible up here."

Lillian nodded, also lost in the fading light. "Yeah, it is. Also, feel free to call me Lily. It's less of a mouthful."

My lips quirk up, trying not to laugh at her statement. "But I was under the impression from your eating methods that you preferred mouthfuls?" The joke got me a playful kick from across the table.

"Only food!"

I could see the restrained laughter and playful annoyance from her, and knew, this was definitely a strong start to the New World.

* * *

 **Notes: A story nobody saw coming, joined with a stream nobody needs at archer1eyedwrter on twitch Fridays at 10:00 am EST. Now with that announcement out of the way, I shall say I'm back from my extended absence of writing and that very little could drive me to get past the first few chapters of various ideas, and I didn't feel like tormenting you decent folks with my many half-assed thoughts.**

 **This however being tied directly to a Monster Hunter World playthrough will pull my lazy feet into motion and it will finish. All I ask in return is that I hear your thoughts, so please fav/follow/review.**

 **And as always, have a great life. Until next week!**


	2. Entry 2

August 25, Day 2: Part 1 - The Expedition

Dinner with Lillian went well, the bath afterwards went even better. The amount of grime that was washed from my body amazed me, I even found some leaves in my hair. With that out of the way, I put a close to the first official day of my new life. Of course I hoped the next day would be easier.

Apparently even the loud mouth slept early to survive the days of exercise, I was impressed. Not as impressed as how little had to be done in preparation for an expedition. The main objective was to reestablish a camp that had been trashed courtesy of Zorah affecting the wildlife.

I had breakfast with Lillian at the nearest table to the lifts, a spot that seemed to be becoming hers and hers alone based on all the books scattered about, and then decided to finally check the armory. I trust my leather armor, especially after it's first field run, but I needed something better. The second fleet master, Hector, agreed, and upon seeing the Jagras hides, teeth, and claws in my possession, he managed to sketch up a hunter's outfit. I had to admit it looked nice, and I was impressed by the detail of the sketch coming from such a bulky and muscular man.

Within the hour I got the new outfit, a leather beret, with matching jacket, pants, footwear, and gloves. There was also a skirt-like belt to give the waist extra coverage. The main torso had multiple pockets and clips for storage, something I was beyond grateful for, considering what today's goals had been.

I then decided to head out, Dorian and Lillian in tow. The three of us made for the southern camp of the Ancient Forest to use as our base of operations for the expedition before truly leaving for exploration. Barely into the clearing where the Kestodon were acting up, with its small stream and rocks, we had to hide from an Anjanath as Dorian called it. It was the purple beast from yesterday, all muscle and sinew. I could still see every motion beneath the skin it was so taut.

Unfortunately for us, hiding didn't solve much, other than my boredom. A Great Jagras decided to appear and the beasts got into a fight yet again. I honestly had to wonder what made the Jagras think this was a good plan. My flight instincts usually were more efficient than that.

I grew impatient with the beasts and rushed out, hoping to deal some damage of my own. I saw the Anjanath rear it's gargantuan head back, flames trickling through its teeth, and decided to vault over whatever came next.

I was too slow. A torrent of fire shot out in a straight line, engulfing me in it and making my world go black. Next thing I knew, Dorian and Lillian were nursing my burns back at base camp. My body protested against movement, but I forced myself upright. This was only the beginning of the abuse I expected here. The reports in the Old World on this place mentioned some true nightmares, and there was also Zorah Magdaros. I'm certain I'd be getting used to being put on fire.

Good news was I was out cold long enough that the coast was clear to keep moving and Dorian got us to the lost camp without incident. I found many strange tracks on the way which intrigued me, but after that Anjanath I thought better of investigating.

The campsite was in a secluded grove, high off the ground on two sides and the third accessible by winding roots and vines. A good spot for camp deep in the heart of the forest. Unfortunately, a yellow nest robbing monster called a Kulu-Ya-Ku was lurking within. The monster stood on its hind legs each with two sharp claws on each foot, while it dug into the ground with its claws. Its hide was a vibrant yellow, with the orange plumage on its head standing out as the only soft material on it. It's face had a sharp curved beak that turned to see us approach.

The beast dropped whatever it had dug up, which was how I could tell it was a nest robber, and ran. Dorian and Lillian agreed that the beast should be taken care of if we wanted the camp to last the night, so I went off. Lillian followed me while Dorian decided to make sure that Anjanath wasn't bothering the gate before returning to Astera to report in.

Tracking the Kulu-Ya-Ku was annoying. The wingless bird seemed to roam the entire east half of the forest and the scoutflies were getting confused and distracted constantly. At one point I found fresh Anjanath tracks and decidedly turned around. Lillian didn't even have time to suggest avoiding it. I did not want a repeat encounter.

We did eventually find the nest robber within half an hour, and then the fight was on. I had figured out how to guide my culldrome smoother and was harvesting red and blue extracts to enhance my glaive while analyzing my foe. It attacked with kicks mostly, and once I got in close it pulled out a massive boulder to stop my blade.

My solution, jump over the boulder. I began to flutter around the creature, which disoriented it and made it pace circles. While it did that, I kept clipping its head and shoulders, avoiding the boulder, and used the impact to fling myself back up into the air. The Kulu twice attempted to jump and slam the boulder into my gliding form, and only once knocked me down.

Once I was downed, it ran off. The thing was not the type to fight, only pillage. Definitely needed dealt with. I chased it to the Great Jagras' den, a small cave lit by brightmoss and flashflies. The flashflies I made great use of, upon contact with my glaive, they glowed a blindingly white light I knew not to look at. Unfortunately, my target didn't get the chance to avert its eyes and dropped an egg it had started to feast on.

Again I harvested extracts, red, blue, and yellow. The Kulu-Ya-Ku began getting overwhelmed as the glaive suddenly became light in my hands and I twirled it about in the air before going for a devastating landing and hacking away. The blade sunk deeper than usual, gleaming red from the friction with air and the extracts. It only took moments for the monster to be overwhelmed and drop dead.

With that one nest robber dead, I was free to go back, but decided to find others. I wanted to explore the forest freely and learn what I could of it. I hunted down two more Kulu-Ya-Ku in that time, and even encountered a Pukei-Pukei, though it wasn't the irritated target.

With my hunts gathered, and a few other smaller creatures culled, I returned to Astera myself with Lillian. All in all, I spent three hours in the forest, meaning I still had ten hours of daylight most likely.

With the report on camp being fixed up, the Provisions Manager Sharena decided she'd start sending me investigations and bounties that would aid Astera in the discovery process of the New World. Apparently they had barely been able to scratch the surface up until now. It most likely was a mix of manpower and Zorah's presence.

I had apparently become known for being reliable, so the Commander decided it'd be best if I went after our Pukei-Pukei problem. I gladly accepted the job, but first made a quick stop at the forge.

Jenny greeted me from her spot at the desk for selling ready made equipment, while Hector simply nodded at my pack. Seeing everything I brought in, he sketched up the Kulu armor and even an upgrade for my glaive.I purchased the lot of it, and a little over an hour later came out with my new glaive, but the armor wouldn't be finalized until later in the day.

The Kulu armor was to my understanding, going to be very lightweight, but durable as proven by the sword the forge master slashed into it. My midriff was exposed however so I was expecting even more scrapes to coat me when I was least expecting them to. It consisted of hard leather covering the upper body, alongside a skirt of the same orange coloring. The helmet was actually just a veil to cover my mouth. Again, I was very doubtful in this armor but considering the proofs of efficiency I took it.

My kinsect glaive definitely looked better though. The edge seemed finer, and it felt much lighter in my hands, not as lightweight as having the three colored extracts stored within it, but still lighter. The Kulu plumage on the one blade helped differentiate the ends, and gave it an aesthetically pleasing look.

All in all, I was ready to fight a pissed off Pukei-Pukei.

* * *

Day 2: Part 2 - Pukei-Pukei Hunting

Based on notes made earlier in the day, and now as I'm writing this realizing I must seem like a workaholic with how much I've done in only two days, the Pukei-Pukei would definitely be in the northeast part of the forest at some point. I took advantage of the new camp and was there within five minutes of getting lost and dealing with distractible scoutflies.

The Pukei-Pukei was just coming from the opposite end, and went to ignore me upon my entry to a glade coated in white flowers, lilies maybe, and a plant that held poison in its drooping human head sized bulbs. I took advantage of the calm and started the harvesting process. Red and blue came away easily, but yellow was being stubborn and after it started spitting its venom at me, I gave up on trying for extract gathering.

Instead, I took to the air to avoid stepping in the poison drenched ground. I was not looking forward to finding out how that felt burning in my veins. The Pukei's wings made great launch pads, letting me bounce from side to side repeatedly, cutting light, and sometimes randomly deeper, tears along their soft membranes and the beast itself's back.

The monster went to rear itself up and stop my jumping, but I deftly launched away with the use of air pressure the glaive can build up for short aerial hops. Upon landing I restarted the harvesting process, only to watch it fly off.

I got a good look at my blades at that point and realized how dull they had become from constant use. By the time I finished honing the edge, the beast was far off. I tried to rely on my scoutflies, but they seemed to make sharp random bends at points. I eventually found my target by sound because it was battling a Great Jagras. I really need to know what is with there being so many of those things.

The Pukei's poison was coated thoroughly over its opponent, who had upon my entering slammed itself on top of the my target. I quickly got to harvesting while the beasts were focused on each other, and to my delight, got the three colored extracts.

With renewed enthusiasm, I lunged into combat twirling around. I managed to keep to the Pukei with my onslaught of attacks while the two giants fought, which weakened it greatly. My blade even sank deep enough into the tail to sever it.

The continued onslaught eventually drew the Pukei-Pukei's attention away from the Great Jagras, who took that chance to flee, and it launched at me with blinding rage.

It spewed poison so thoroughly it created a toxic mist I couldn't avoid. The poison burned through me and I felt it sap my energy from me. I pushed through the pain, a foolish hope I'd sweat it out in mind, and kept up my assault.

If Herald hadn't been ready with vigorwasps, I would've collapsed for sure. As it stood, I did sweat out the poison and the Pukei-Pukei fled to its nest to rest. I could see the strain in its wings as it flew off.

I ran, swam, and jumped back to it, the trails were a mix of vines, streams, and roots after all. Only to find it on top of a vine covered ledge a swarm of Vespoids seemed to have a nest in. The gargantuan wasps stood a meter in length, which hindered their flying speed enough for me to get up to my target.

The Pukei-Pukei apparently anticipated my arrival and spat copious amounts of poison right in my face and tackled me off the ledge. It fucking hurt everywhere. Rising to my aching feet, I grabbed something my earlier harvests crafted up, an herbal remedy. The drink quickly countered the poison alongside a bit of extra energy to stay conscious. It wasn't near enough however and I drained a mega potion in record time to regain the vigor required to finish the fight.

Back in the fray, I began as had become custom, and pestered it with my culldrome. The beetle hit repeatedly and in three goes I got my extracts. I immediately lunged at the beast, no longer concerned for injuries, and hacked away. My flurry of cuts were so fierce the monster collapsed under the force and then soon after remained unmoving.

Lillian saw the events play out from start to finish and sent a Palico out to relay our completion of the task. I simply collapsed to the ground and caught my breath between gasps of pain. That fucking sucked. Note to self, if it can be helped, don't corner a nearly dead monster.

* * *

Afternoon 2 - Preparing for the Next Step

It required assistance from Lillian for my return limp to Astera. Very little discussion was had because of the pain all that poison left me in. Somehow some was still in my hair and the walk back made it drip into my right eye.

The Commander and Dorian saw us at the gate and came to greet us. "You look terrible, but considering your message came in, I guess it isn't a concern." Dorian's tone is joking but it's clear he is being serious about his job.

The Commander brushes his grandson's comments off and gives an approving grin at Lillian and me. "In any case, let's discuss the next step. For your sake I will leave you a few days to settle in finally, but you are expected to meet with the scientists in the Wildspire Wastes to investigate another slag pillar within the week. For now, get some rest to recover your strength."

My partner and I nod in understanding before heading off to get some of our own objectives done. With my armor order about ready for pickup, I went off to retrieve it.

"Ah lass, the armor is ready. Jenny has it in her commissions." The loud shout was heard from the deck as I walked towards the smithy. It threw me off a bit realizing they easily could just shout to inform people of completed orders. Neat.

I walked in, getting a friendly smile from Jenny and Hector. "Thanks, I doubt it would've helped much today though."

"We can see that. You look like shit. I'd wager the Commander already gave you recovery time."

I simply nod at the words, not feeling like complaining about all my injuries from not being aware. "Yeah he did, I might do an investigation or two for the Provisions Manager before calling it a day though. It'll be nice to try out the new clothes on something simple."

Hector gave a snort before turning back to whatever work he still had to do. "Ya may want to take a bath under a waterfall first. I still see some poison in yer hair."

I groan, dreading exactly how purple my usually pink hair would be courtesy of that damned Pukei-Pukei. Gathering my new gear, I take their words and head for the nearest stream to bathe and wave goodbye as I go.

* * *

Evening 2 - The New Normal

With sunset approaching after two investigations and another bath, I went to Lillian's table at the canteen for dinner. After getting my armor, I only hunted smaller prey, namely Great Jagras. I saw too many today to not feel a need to cull the beasts a bit.

Lillian waved me over upon seeing my approach from the lift. The lift was amusing the first time around, now it just seems normal to grab an ever in motion chain and just ride it to whichever floor I was headed to. Looking at her, I could see that she was equally as exhausted as I was after our long day in the forest.

"Took you long enough. I decided to wait and see what we'd order this time. I think after all that I want to pass on meat."

I laugh at her words while taking a seat. "Yeah, I can understand. I think I'll see what the vegetables have to offer after snacking on steak all day."

"You know we aren't expected to be the only hunters out here. We could've taken a break." She didn't seem too annoyed, but I couldn't exactly blame her for scolding at me.

"Sorry, I just didn't feel a need to stop because that Pukei-Pukei messed me up."

"Plus that Anjanath, also kind of surprised how easily you dealt with that Kulu-Ya-Ku, also I think those might have been Rathalos tracks we were constantly seeing out there." She began listing both our rougher encounters, and the near misses I had with death. I had to admit, it was more than I felt only two days out here should have had.

"I get it, I'm both a workaholic, and a glutton for punishment. Can we eat? It looks like the Meowscular Chef heard our orders." On cue the platters of unnecessarily large salads arrived with every vegetable in the New World.

"Let's. Then we can move on to more enjoyable talk like finally settling in." I only manage a nod, mouth already full of food.

The meals didn't last long with our bottomless stomachs, and with trays cleared we leaned back to enjoy the sunset. I readjusted to look at Lillian from the corner of my eye while still enjoying the view. "So, settling in. How are you enjoying our lodging?"

She moved to look directly at me, causing me to do the same. "There's more than one reason I'm always up here."

My face breaks into a grin for a moment as I see where her rant will be going. "Not just food?"

She smirks at my interruption before continuing, "No, not just food. The other A-listers are way too noisy, and that one pair who keep trying to be everyone's friends keep interrupting any note taking I try to get done."

I laugh, completely understanding her plight. "They might be why I spent so much time out in the Ancient Forest during the day."

She joins me in laughing, realizing my coping method. "While clever, that only means I've got more notes to take."

I relax, and manage to get my face to appear serious. "Sorry, but until we can find a way to get better accommodations, I doubt I'll be changing my bad habits just yet."

"I'd question the 'we' part of that but as partners we will be sticking together, but it figures that this is how it's going to be."

The serious face cracks a little at her pout, but I hold firm still. The willpower used to fight monsters now being focused into not breaking a smile. "Yes, barely living through my own idiocy while we try to get more comfortable lodging will be our usual."

"Well at least my share of the work is on paper."

"And you have ease of access to the canteen for all your eating delights." Her playful smirk finally breaks my composure and we both lose it at that moment, laughing off the last vestiges of stress from the long grueling day, and brace for the next.

* * *

 **Notes: Whelp, I got chapter 2 finished. It originally was going to be longer but that Pukei-Pukei did a number on me and I realized the next batch of quests flowed better if I cut off here. I need to ask, what do you folks prefer, the hunting journals and fights? Or the end of day scenes between Elizabeth and the people around Astera?**

 **Other than that, please favorite, follow, and/or review as you please. It all helps to get things out. And as always, have a great life, til next time!**

 **Next chapter will follow the events of this Friday's livestream at 10:00 am EST at archer1eyedwriter on twitch . tv**


	3. Entry 3

August 28, Day 5: Part 1 - Escort Mission

The next step, researching a similar slag pillar to the one Lily and I found in the Ancient Forest in the Wildspire Wastes. Notifying the scholars was simple enough, after that though it was downhill for a bit.

The short individuals who made up the majority of researchers had enough energy to make a Kulu-Ya-Ku seem lazy. They constantly talked and just oozed anticipation to see the slag pillar. So much so, that they ran on ahead once the go ahead was sent out. I'll rant about that development later on however. Idiots.

Anyhow, Lily and I chased them down and got to our campsite in the Wastes. The place was incredible, the stone was worn down and vegetation negligible in multiple areas, however water flowed from the forest here and it created a more in the lower recesses of the Wastes. Fortunately we were headed upstream during the investigation and stayed out of the muck.

Also fortunately, as the hunter of the group, I didn't have to push the cart meant for supplies and samples. That job was left to the over eager researchers and Lily, though she seemed to be taking it easy and taking in the area.

That was fine considering I was too and if she hadn't been, they might have left me behind as I got distracted by some vines that led to a high point where I could see the entirety of the area. Our destination was far out in the distance, but stood out amidst dunes and pillars of stone.

Once I got back to the group and told them what I saw, they had even more energy, and started to lecture on the ecosystem. I wasn't really a fan of the execution of it, it could've been more enthralling if it weren't so clinical. Also would have helped if I weren't already aware of how nature behaved. It is part of the job after all.

I'm ranting, sorry. Just it was a long dull push uphill, and then down the other side where all I really did was sightsee and maybe glance a time or two at Lily to see how she was holding up. Nothing happened until we got to the bottom of the slope we were on and heard a loud shriek which explained the lack of monsters.

Turns out a Rathian called this region it's home. The green wyvern had a long spiked tail and was about five meters from snout to tail. The wingspan was roughly the same length, and were attached at where I'd assumed shoulders would be.

The researchers panicked like little children, their energy going from joy to fear on the toss of a coin. Lily suggested I distract it while she got everything through. Not seeing a better option, I agreed.

The encounter went shockingly well minus a slap from the tail. Fortunately I was only grazed. The Rathian seemed to want to simply crush me and move on, so I stuck to the air on my glaive, and propelled myself around it to confuse it. After about a minute of our dance, Lily called out for me to get a move on, the coast was clear.

The Rathian ignored her since I kept pestering it with my culldrome. Unfortunately that meant it took some serious sprinting to get away. Luckily though, the area was windy and sloped to grant me a quick way out of eyesight, which I'm convinced monsters don't have by the amount of times this trick has worked.

The escort seemed so far so good at that point. Minor obstacles that let us be, and our target in sight. The researchers gave a burst of energy which left Lily behind with me for a bit as we made our final approach. They only gave a passing thought to the cowering Aperos, quadruped herbivores with a mace for a tail and hardened shell on their backs, as they pushed onward.

Lily and I on the other hand got ready to evacuate the blinded fools from whatever came next. Thank the Sapphire Star we did. A Barroth came out of nowhere and charged at the group. The biped had skin rock hard and ridged, giving it the image of a crown atop its head and plate armor coating it. It's tail was a bludgeoning object of painful force I was to find out.

It charged us from behind, clearly agitated from the slag in its territory. The researchers began their panic anew at the assault, and Lily was quick to direct their minds and bodies into running away. I had the hard job of distracting it yet again. There was something on the ground that looked passable for slinger ammo, so I took the chance.

I'm pretty sure I saw Lily's jaw drop slightly in awe of the shot I pulled from the corner of my eye. I dove out of the way of a head slam, grabbed the pellets, loaded them, rolled over to face the Barroth, and shot without properly aiming. The shot got it in the eye and made it stumble long enough for the others to be safely gone by this point, which left just me and the raging mass of stone that was the Barroth.

It charged and I dove, a near repeat of earlier except it got me this time in the leg. I turned to begin extracting from it with my culldrome but was having very poor luck and had to focus after only getting red and yellow extracts.

I took to the skies hoping to avoid any full on collisions, and found myself mounted atop the beast and carving away at its hide. My hunting knife barely dug into flesh courtesy of a hardened coat of mud on the Barroth so I began to hit it with my glaive itself. The Barroth stopped my first attempt by tackling a spire towering amongst the dunes. I would have gone flying if I hadn't thrown out a grappling shot to pull myself back onto the monster.

My equipment had become worrisomely dull by that point, which hindered each and every strike from doing its job. When the beast was toppled, I had no time to take the opportunity and had to hone my blades' edges. The process took so long it got up and roared a challenge.

The local winged small game, Nolos, took to the roar and joined in. There were about ten that began to shriek and next thing I knew the earth had opened up beneath us. A hulking mass of a Diablos leapt out to attack the Barroth.

I will admit to standing and watching the fight between titans for about one minute before positioning myself to either get away, or pester the Barroth more. The Diablos made the task hard by charging at the Barroth with its horns about as long and twice as thick as my entire body. Its forelegs we're even thicker than that as they pulled the colossal beast forward. The tail resembled a sledgehammer, a trend with the creatures out here I've come to notice.

Apparently the fight didn't even last another half a minute before the Diablos got bored and went back to its underground den and the Barroth ran off into a canyon. I followed my prey only to get run over by its helm and knocked out cold.

A group of Palicos quickly got me to consciousness to press on. I tried, but the brute force of that skull hurt. I'm impressed the Kulu armor withstood the worst of it and kept body parts from breaking. This time the Barroth's charge was anticipated and I vaulted over it before launching my own assault.

My push was worth it, and granted me the respite to begin extracting. I finally got my three colors and pressed onward. Simultaneously Herald splashed me with Vigorwasp sap pushing my body even harder.

I lunged in and began a dance upon the tail, mounting and hacking away at it. Of course my blade had dulled to the point it wouldn't cut anymore before the limb was slashed free. Forced yet again to step back and hone my blades, my prey walked off into the mire.

I won't go into detail on the muck that is the lower areas of the Wildspire Wastes, just know that I'm now convinced I'll either have the best or the worst hygiene out of the commission with how often I have to bathe. It wasn't that bad, just I'd rather not dwell on it.

Anyhow, by this point I was beyond frustrated with its denial to drop dead, or even let my blade sink deeper than flesh wounds. I chased it all the way to its mud bath and remained aloft as best I could. On the moments I was grounded, it would shake its mud caked body, causing piles of muck to hinder any and all movement.

I'm still shocked it didn't take advantage of my vulnerable state, but I guess the shaking left it disoriented enough to buy me the time to get free and airborne again.

After about two minutes of hacking, it's tail came off and gave me an exploitable weakness large enough to finish it off, which I gladly did.

Wanting to find the group and resolve this adventure, I went back to where my fight with the Barroth began, the wildspires. Lily appeared from out of nowhere and yelled to get my attention as I passed by. I imagine the look of relief on her face was mirrored on mine considering our tasks. She fortunately found a nearby hiding spot for the researchers to wait while I took care of the dangers.

I told her to get them and I'd hold the perimeter until they arrived. This plan got tweaked a bit when a solitary figure approached me in very travel worn clothes. A once light blue cloak covered hard leather caked in dust and dirt. He introduced himself as the sole Wyverian of the First Fleet, Elder Chantell.

Once that was out of the way, he asked for my tale so far and if we could head back to the southwestern camp to discuss it. Considering the length, and knowing his reputation, it sounded like an ok plan once the researchers got to it. He accepted my request to wait on the others first, which gave me time to ask about his time in the New World and what drove him to wander it like he was.

He said he had his own path to follow, and something else pushed him along. His words sounded odd, but I just chalked it up to Wyverian culture and let it be. Around that time, Lily showed up with the eager researchers who immediately got back to work. She saw our guest and her eyes lit up with curiosity before I got the chance to tell her I'd be headed back to camp to give our guest a suitable meal.

She gave a nod while Elder got a chuckle as we walked off in silence. Back at camp I gave a simplified version of what had occurred so far, and he surmised that the chase for Zorah was still going as well as solving the elder crossing mystery. With that, he thanked me for the food and tale and bid me farewell. Before he left though, he passed Lily and asked us to give the Commandeer a message. Let the man know he was alright.

Lily waved goodbye alongside me before telling me the researchers were ready to go and questioning who Elder was. She guessed right on her first try, and then brushed it off as we guided the fools home.

Upon our arrival in Astera, I noticed we were a person short, and panic set n. I hid it well however, and went to give my report to the Commander. The relief he showed was palpable to what he probably actually felt at hearing of his friend's survival, but we had more pressing matters. I hadn't been seeing things, and we did lose a researcher at some point, making it my job to find the person.

* * *

Day 5: Part 2 - Rescue Mission

Mine and Lily's next job was swiftly ordered, find the whereabouts of the missing researcher. We wasted no time rushing to the Wastes to begin. Lily seemed flustered, determined even, to find the man. It was clear she didn't like thinking the worst, and would do whatever she could to help others.

That attitude is what found our first set of tracks, which led to the next and the next, until we found something that did not bode well for us. The third set of prints onward hard massive spikes puncturing the ground within arm's reach of them. Our only hope was the fact we couldn't find any blood or other signs of injury around each print, and no monster tracks themselves to determine whatever created the spikes.

The trail eventually led into the lowest point of the Wastes, which in translation meant the deepest part of the mire. The muck was as far as I could tell, a bit above my waist which made movement frustrating. Lily decided to keep to the banks, which in the end was what made the difference when we found the researcher.

The man was in a work coat and pants, and in clear panic. He couldn't even finish his thoughts on the dead Barroth he was hiding behind. The thing was absolutely coated in the same bony spikes from earlier.

I didn't get more time to examine the carcass before something dove across the island platform and ate it whole. I took that chance to cross the mire and get the man to Lily to rush to safety. Yet again, this left me in the precarious spot of being charged by a monster. This time it looked to be a mud coated fish the length of a Barroth and just as thick. How it swims in this much I doubt I'll ever know.

Anyhow, as it charged, I found a tree to grapple my way to safety from and with precision dodged the beast the researcher called a Jyuratodus with grace. The seemingly eyeless face turned on me and began spewing the same muck the Barroth was coated in. I refused to stay in the water any longer and vaulted away before going back to begin extracting essence.

At the same time my kinsect pestered it, I was above chipping away at the rubbery flesh, noticing how cleanly it cut under my blade. The feeling was cathartic after a morning practically hacking at rock. It kept spewing the muck at me all the while until I cut deep enough it swam upstream.

… and right into a Barroth. I found my next beast to cull it looks like. They just keep showing up.

Anyhow, the Jyuratodus lunged at the Barroth and wrapped itself around it's hoped to be meal, but the meal fought viciously. The Jyuratodus eventually gave up on the meal with my kinsect pestering it, and it lunged at me.

For whatever reason, so did the Barroth, which caused a threeway free for all. I kept to my target from the air, but it kept going into the muck, which left me at the Barroth's mercy until the amphibious monster leapt skyward at me, and revealed two massive legs holding it up on land like a frog.

With it aboveground again, I began the extracting process anew and gathered my buffs while hacking away. So focused on just getting this obnoxious job over with, I didn't notice the Barroth charge at me and leave me stunned. It then followed up with a head slam that turned my world black.

Upon waking up back at camp, I rushed back into the fray only to see both monsters walking off different ways. The relief I felt at not having to deal with that Barroth any longer almost left me weak in the legs before I chased down the Jyuratodus. I found it chasing yellow fish about as large as my torso called Gajau, which all swarmed me at my approach.

I had to twirl my blade and cleave through everything to hit the Jyuratodus, which left my blade so dull I couldn't penetrate its mud cloaked body. I quickly backpedaled through the sir to sharpen my blade on the island this all started from, and observed my target. It seemed weak, but determined as it stared back.

I'm not sure why it didn't press an attack while I sharpened my blade, but as I vaulted up and dug my knife into an open wound I must have created earlier, I found out. It was trying to remain conscious to fight for its life a bit longer, but up here, I found a sweet spot to finish this muddy job. With it dead, I looked myself over and realized exactly how badly my clothes needed cleaned. They were hidden under multiple layers of the hardened gunk, and the fact my midriff was exposed in this armor really meant another bath was on the horizon.

* * *

Evening 5 - What Next?

"So, now that you are finished with washing everything, do you think we actually stand a chance at capturing Zorah?" Lily decides to ask me as we head towards the Canteen after cleaning all our clothes from the Wildspire Wastes today about the Commander's mad scheme. He got it in his head that with Zorah Magdaros' next location able to be determined, we could head it off and capture the Elder Dragon.

"I'm honestly all for the crazy at this point. Things seem tame compared to our first day." Lily's giggle at the reminder of our grand entrance brings a light flutter to my stomach. On jobs it's easy to dismiss as pre-combat nerves, but these moments right now make it undeniable I'm developing feelings for her, and based on looks I've caught while on the job, I'd wager she feels the same.

"I doubt we'll ever live down how we got here. Kind of hard to forget gliding over the Ancient Forest before crashing on top of you." I blush slightly at the reminder st my need to be a guardian figure to others. I feel like it's going to get me killed from countering Lily's curiosity.

I rub the back of my head as I order the Chef's Choice, which usually consists of a lot of everything while trying to get my rising nerves under control. Each passing day it's gotten harder not to simply blurt out asking her on a date. "Yeah, it definitely is hard to forget that string of disasters."

"Speaking of the past, care to share what brought you here?" Her eyes twinkle in that way they do while out investigating, curiosity getting the better of her. It only makes me squirm more.

"It's honestly kind of embarrassing. Maybe one day I'll tell you, but not today." I really have it bad, why am I acting like a nervous teenager again? This isn't our first date nor my first crush. It's just… probably the most serious. Like coming here to the New World, there's no going back it feels like. That'd explain why I've yet to act.

"Oh come on Liz, it can't be that bad?" She doesn't even bother pouting seeing exactly how red in the face I am.

"No, but it is that girly." Or at least to me it is.

Lily gives a snort at my words though, clearly amused. "If it weren't for your obsessive need to be clean, I'd call you out on that."

Know what, fuck it. I'm just gonna do as I've been doing since I got here and dive on in. "Tell you what, after whatever tomorrow brings between the Tobi-Kadachi and Anjanath that need slaying, you go on a date with me. Then I'll tell you what brought me here." That came out far more calmly than I felt.

The grin that started once I clearly began to break under her prodding only grew as my words poured out. "You've got a deal partner. I expect answers." While her words say that, it's clear how happy she is for the other part too, causing me to give a sigh of relief, which she noticed. "What? You honestly expected me to turn you down?"

I laugh lightly while a grin of my own begins to emerge. "No, I expected a yes. It just took more effort than it should have to have asked." This draws a chuckle from Lily as I'm sure the image of me choking up or being shy are hard images to compare with my usual charging and dancing fights with monsters who are at minimum twice my size.

"Oh? And what could possibly have made you nervous then? It's not like we aren't together nearly all the time already and you don't even flinch at things like Rathians breathing fire over your back." Of course her curiosity has to pry into that one.

My cheeks flush against my will, I would've thought I'd be over nervousness by now. "That's probably why. It wouldn't be easy to be a passing fling. Our jobs demand we trust each other too deeply for that."

My words,while terribly awkward, seem to ring a bell in her head. "Ok, I get that. We naturally do need to trust each other especially since the Commission expects us to remain partners professionally, but to be such privately could go south fast if it failed."

I squirm yet again under her analysis, my stomach churning at the words. "Yeah pretty much, so it's hard to not feel like this is a bad idea-"

She cuts me off, not wanting my nerves to drag either of us down. "But if we both feel some attraction, why fight it? I say yes and am aware you are asking for a serious relationship because we both know there is nobody better than us at our jobs."

I feel she just about summed up my currently mush brain. "Exactly."

A Palico decided that was the perfect time to bring our platters of steaming fish and vegetables. "Well then, let's eat and be ready for what's to happen next!" I doubt I'll ever not be thankful for that cheerful optimism and bright smile of Lily's.

"Let's."

* * *

 **Notes: Sorry if the fights aren't all that good or feel drawn out. That's just how I felt during the Barroth and Jyuratodus hunts, especially the Barroth. They are my least favorite monster in the game thus far. Other than that, hope you enjoyed the awkwardness of that dinner. I needed it to set up this one scene I have in mind for next chapter, it'll be innocent, but so hopelessly adorable.**

 **ok, enough on that, favorite, follow, review, do as you please and have a great life. Until next time!**


	4. Entry 4

**Beta read by Phoenix Commander**

* * *

August 29 Day 6: Part 1 - Not My Morning

I woke up optimistic. Then, I actually woke up. There's no need for details, but the after effects of being tackled by two Barroth yesterday wasn't the only pain I felt when I rose out of bed. Fortunately being a hunter means being used to pain. Unfortunately, I'm going to spend the next few days smelling like prey.

Anyhow, even that time of the month wouldn't break my enthusiasm for the day, or at least I kept telling myself that as I checked my gear, and did an inventory check before going out to the Ancient Forest for Tobi-Kadachi hunting.

Suffice to say, the only bit of optimism I had on this fine morning was that it was a sunny day, perfect for this evening's date, everything else looked bleak.

Considering my situation, I was impatient in getting the day's jobs done, and I rushed after the scoutflies upon entering the forest in search of tracks for the Kodachi. They led me upwards a bit to what looked like a nest area, and a dead end.

Well, visibly it was a dead end. Audibly, I heard the leaves rustling around and above me, but couldn't pinpoint an exact spot. By the time I did, I only had a second to react to the great white fox-like creature. The average monster's length was five meters from it's nose to the tip of it's viciously sparking tail as it lunged forward and left a current of electricity where I previously stood.

Its eyes locked onto mine before it leapt back into the surrounding trees, making essence harvesting a challenge. I quickly gave up on that and recalled my kinsect, at the same time I began to also try bouncing around.

All I managed were a few shallow cuts here and there, before the Kodachi eventually tackled me, and trapped me within the membranes that stretched from its forelegs to its hind legs. It was these membranes which gave it the mobility to pull off the attack. I attempted to recover from the tackle before it slammed that sparkling tail in my face, but I wasn't entirely successful.

I'm pretty sure it lunged to attack me again but Herald and some other Palicos carted me to safety, where I immediately rushed back into the fight. If I sat back one moment, I feared my body would quit on me in pain.

Upon my return to the nest of vines and roots, I managed to land a few favorable cuts to its back before the monster left for less vicious food. I used the brief opportunity to check myself over, and sharpen my glaive, before chasing down the beast. I was fortunate I did so, because upon finding the Kodachi, I discovered it had started to fight with a Great Jagras.

I decided to stand back and let the beasts have at it while I stood back and pestered the Kodachi with my Kinsect. The Jagras almost immediately left upon my intervention, leading to the Kodachi chasing me around a tree. It clearly knew better than to hit said tree like I wanted and kept circling it until I went in for a strike with my glaive.

I really am learning to hate the Tobi-Kodachi. It veered out of my path and swatted me with its tail before following through with another full body tackle. Next thing I knew, Lily was whipping up a vegetable platter for me back at camp, and after eating my fill, I was limping back out after my target again.

This time I found it fighting a Rathalos. I put on the ghillie mantle, a camouflaged cloak meant to help hide my presence, and watched as the Rathalos beat on my target. The Kodachi took a blow from the flying wyvern's venomous tail before it managed to get away.

Tracking it from that point on was easier, since it was now moving with a heavy limp, and it's forelegs begged to give out. It practically dragged itself back to its nest where the beast fell asleep unaware of my presence. The Rathalos' tail and venom clearly drained it of its energy reserves.

I had my culldrome begin pestering it immediately, and managed to harvest the three essences before I took to the air, having learned my lesson about the ground. I even managed to latch onto its static charged fur, and dig in with my knife, before tearing into the monster's tail with my glaive. It felt marvelous returning the favor from the earlier beatings it gave me.

The Tobi-Kodachi's limbs clearly were as weak as they appeared, and it collapsed from my assault, giving me an even larger opening to lunge into. The feeling was very cathartic, especially when I felt my glaive pierce the flesh of its throat filling the air with the drowning sound of its death wails.

That fucking sucked. Lily got a chuckle at my spontaneous celebratory dance over its corpse. It couldn't be helped, I was delirious from pain and stubbornness by that point.

Afterwards, she had the heart to help guide my aching body back to Astera. Once there, Dorian seemed oblivious to my state of pain, and immediately began explaining the Anjanath's route. He didn't even give Lily and I the chance to tell the chief Botanist, Henry Collin, that the coast was clear for harvesting.

Once we did tell Henry about the Kodachi's fate, he told us about a new project of his, an Ancient Tree sapling he had just recently planted. Lily and I watched as the little shrub grew, alongside his words, into a reasonably sized tree. I told him to turn around, and his squeal of excitement that he immediately denied, was worth it, alongside the promise of crops that'd grow overnight around the base of the tree.

Next stop, the smithy. It was, as usual, incredibly warm inside the smithy easing some of my soreness, but not nearly enough. Hector saw the materials I was carrying in and grinned. He immediately went to the drawing board and showed me his ideas. I apparently had enough for a Pulsar Rod, a Kodachi inspired glaive that used the fox's internal electricity producing glands to shock enemies on contact. Surprisingly, he told me the weapon could be finished within the hour. Along with making the Pulsar Rod, he said he could upgrade my neglected Kinsect, whose classification I forget, and making it a windchopper, a violet moth-like beetle that focused on severing.

I gratefully payed for that as well, before heading out to prepare for the Anjanath of course, when I saw a door off to the upper left of the smithy and started to wander as per my usual. The door led to an uneven path that looked relatively unwalked by others, and continued on to the side of the mountain everything was built into. Considering Astera's size and activity, the fact that it looked unused says something,

The path ended in a roofed deck far out of sight of the majority of Astera, but gave a view that still overlooked the port region of the base to one side. To the other, I could see the Wildspire Wastes and Great Ravine, that we intended to capture Zorah Magdaros in, stretching before me. I smiled at the sight, amazed at the beauty, and knew how I'd tell Lily of my reason tonight.

Until then, I had an Anjanath to slaughter. I groaned at the fact I'd be in even more pain before the day was out. Considering I write these before going to sleep, I'll simply note that yes, I am so sore most of my body has gone numb.

* * *

Day 6: Part 2 - Swatting an Anjanath

Considering previous encounters with the Anjanath, plus Dorian's lecture, tracking the beast was easily accomplished. Distracting it upon finding it though was a bit more challenging. I gathered what I could for slinger ammo and made it up as I went.

The bipedal, fire breathing, purple monster of pure leg and jaw muscle was occupied with making sure it's prey, a Great Jagras, was dead by thrashing the corpse around between its jaws and slamming the Jagras off the ground. Nearby were some rocks trapped in vines, and hanging precariously above the five meter tall beast. How they got there probably has something to do with the Ancient Tree and debris from monsters fighting up above over the ages.

I had only managed to find two torch pods. I used the first to lure my prey under the natural trap. The second followed up by disrupting the vines, spilling their dangerous load on top of the Anjanath.

Somewhere during that success, I was detected, most likely by scent if I had to guess, and the Great Jagras corpse was sent my way. It was easy to get clear out of the way, but it told me to prepare for an angry brute wyvern.

The beast's roar was deafening, and left me vulnerable enough for it to charge at me. It might have been my first successful dodge on a follow-up attack since getting to the New World, but if not, I'll take it. In the time it took the Anjanath to turn around, which was very minimal, almost three seconds give or take, I somehow managed to gather the three essences and take to the air.

I quickly propelled myself sideways to avoid its next charge, then came from behind twirling my glaive, focusing my efforts on its tail. The Anjanath let out another roar to ground me before it turned to glare at my offense.

I take pride in how I handled what followed. The Anjanath rushed again and once more I dodged, before taking to the air. Shortly after my ascent, I latched onto its back and used my glaive to propel myself to the tail. I dug in with my knife and began to hack away, bracing myself repeatedly because of how determined the Anjanath was.

Eventually I gave up on using the small blade and began to cleave into hide with my Pulsar Rod. Sparks lept from its tip as it dug in, and the Anjanath recoiled from the shock. I then proceeded to hack away even harder now that I was on my own two feet. By the time the monster got back onto its two feet, I had dealt some serious damage to the tail. I could see several deep cuts, alongside chunks of hide missing from it.

The Anjanath let loose yet another roar, and fled from my assault. It made me feel great, being treated as the greater predator, and I intended to have it take that sensation to its grave.

The Anjanath took to the upper levels of the tree, strangely it was the same area of vines and roots the Tobi-Kodachi had resided in earlier. It apparently decided to use the spot to set a trap and rush me, exactly as yesterday's Barroth had in the canyon. This time I used my glaive to avoid the charge, and ended up falling down two stories of roots that took my fall for me.

The Anjanath followed, fire frothing from its mouth. I moronically leapt directly at said area, landing a satisfying hit to its nose, before the flames reached me and began to eat away at any loose cloth. I had to land and roll in the dirt for a bit to recover from the sensation, not having the current mental capacity to isolate the burning area and extinguish it.

My mind had been focused on not dying at the time, and my frantic rolling helped that goal by avoiding one of those muscular legs, which almost crushed me, as the Anjanath leapt at me again.

I retaliated with my new kinsect, the windchopper, it charged at the Anjanath's face. Hector helped by imbuing the kinsect with thunder much like my glaive, so the impact of it to the Anjanath left the great beast reeling from shock. Amused with the distraction, I sent the kinsect to hit the tail while I did the same.

Having gotten used to the unending cramps and pain by that point, I moved with my usual grace to pester the monster from above, and on one such pass, I even severed the tail outright. The natural heat of the Anjanath unfortunately cauterized the wound , but that was one less threat to deal with so I took it as a win.

Enraged, but even more fearful, the beast roared in order to buy time to escape. I quickly gathered up what I could of the severed tail and had Herald return it to camp while I continued my hunt. He fortunately left me to it, and scurried off.

I eventually found the Anjanath in the biggest mess I'd ever seen. Kestodon, regular Jagras, and a Great Jagras were all in the area, crowding it horribly. I tried to get to my target from the air but it was always out of reach, and my blades were dulling on Kestodon hide. The Jagras and Great Jagras took my intervention as their chance to escape, and did so.

The Anjanath however was frothing fire again, and anger had by this point overridden fear. That, or I had officially cornered the beast and it was fighting on its last breaths already. The Kestodon remained a consistent obstacle in my way. The problem got so bad that the Anjanath unleashed a torrent of fire that I recall mere days ago knocked me unconscious.

Today however, I remained upright but definitely covered in flames. I lucked out on standing right beside a creek, and dove into it, successfully avoiding more serious burns, but still feeling drained from it.

I began a game of cat and mouse with my target, I would uncork a mega potion to regain my strength, and it would lunge. This happened four times before I got in a truly successful chug and could resume my assault.

The Anjanath felt the shift in roles and yet again proceeded to run off. However, this time it had a profound limp. A limp I took advantage of and got several minor cuts in on the beast's legs. I'll admit to feeling some guilt as I recap my mercilessness towards this Anjanath. It caught me at a really bad time it seems.

The beast led me to its nest, a bed of springy vines that could easily entangle massive limbs should they flail around too much and dig in. That was fine with me, same went for the regular Jagras that gathered to the scent of nearly dead prey. There weren't enough to willingly advance, but I'm sure if things continued as they had been, they'd join in the butchering.

The Anjanath curled itself into a ball, almost adorably so with its oddly high squeaking sound, and had fallen into a pain filled sleep. I decided to wake it by slamming my glaive into its skull. The resulting shock jolted it to it's feet too fast, and the next thing I knew, there was a giant purple beast thrashing waist deep in a tangle of vines.

I took the chance to strike when I saw the perfect opening to finish it off, and sank my glaive deep through an eye, staring down its throat as it cried its last cry.

With that over with, I began the harvesting process, forgetting the Jagras in the process, and let the adrenaline of the hunt fade from my system. With a calm mind returning to me, I could see exactly how relentless I was, and I did apologize to the Anjanath before picking off the Jagras so I could leave.

The return was soothing. Lily gave me space to calm the last vestiges of the hunt from my system, and I was able to behave like myself again by our return to Astera.

Commander Sace greeted us upon entry alongside Dorian as usual, who awaited our report on the hunt. With the all clear given, the Commander gave us an hour to freshen up for a meeting on the situation with capturing Zorah Magdaros.

An hour, and a long hot soak later, I returned in my old leather gear, since it was in the best condition after everything. Lily wore her usual Handler attire, and waited for me to join the rest. She was brimming with excitement to hear how his plans were coming along.

The answer, within a week everything would be set up and ready in the Great Ravine to await Zorah's migration. He was expected to arrive at exactly one week from sunrise. I was honestly shocked we had that much preparation time, but knew I'd be spending it getting new clothes since that Anjanath did a number to my Kulu armor.

With the meeting concluded, all that was left on the schedule for the day was my date with Lily.

* * *

Evening 6 - Date Night

Lily's grin was ear to ear as we left the planning table, and it was infectious, to the point that I returned the smile. "And what, Lily, exactly has you this excited? I highly doubt it's finally getting a meal."

She slapped me for my playful teasing, but the grin never broke. "Many, many things. For one, we are doing what would be considered unimaginable back home. We are going to capture an elder dragon!" The cheer in her voice made my smile feel more genuine, her energy for life consistently fueling my own.

"Then there's the fact I'm finally going to get to hear what brought you here. You seem so tough in the field that I can't even imagine what it could be. But most importantly to me, we're on a date!" I notice that her never faltering cheer brings even passersby smiles, and also that no one batted an eye at her saying we are dating. I mean we do already act that way, always at each other's side, understanding each other without thinking too hard on it. It could've been justified as good friends, but I guess the fact we just met makes that doubtful.

I return that infectious grin, returning my wandering lilac eyes to her own blue ones, only to see them too brimming with joy. "I'd almost expected that to be reversed considering you never quit questioning me on it. I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one looking forward to this evening."

Her eyes take on an inquisitive squint as she stares me down, both of us not even acknowledging where we are walking. "You say that as if it's all that kept you going earlier-"

And now I'm blushing because I will not let her draw this embarrassing fact out. "It was."

Her expression is briefly of shock before returning to its usual joyful grin, only I can tell she is restraining laughter. "So, the vicious Elizabeth Heron is actually a romantic at heart-"

"And I hope you don't intend on sharing that information around, it's embarrassing." My cheeks are tomato red by the time we round the last stairway to the canteen. "Can we just get to our seats?"

Lily's grin doesn't break as she calls out for two chef's choice platters, then returns to look at me. "There's no need to feel ashamed of having a soft side you know? Look at me, soft as they come!"

She launches her arms to her side as she talks, letting me take in her face that is undeniably cute when she looks so innocent, but I snort at her words, devolving into a light chuckle. "There's no denying that, you love life with a burning passion that makes Zorah's back look like a frozen tundra."

"You got that right! Speaking of, how do you think this mad plan will work out? I have high hopes considering the Commander told the science team to take their gear with them. He clearly isn't delusional."

"Honestly, I think we have a chance. It is madness yes, but according to Hector over at the forge, we're all a bit mad for coming here in the first place. So in the end, if we can hold it off long enough to learn about it, then it'll be set free, or we salvage what we can as it breaks free. Either way we do this, we learn from it."

I'm certain my eyes have a wistful look mixed with a bit of crazy as I talk, but I am confident in this madness. Lily appears the same as she gives me an excited look.

After that, our discussions calmed down to more normal things, like hobbies and that. Apparently Lily has been learning how to cook since she got here, while I'd been focused solely on work, and maybe some dancing and drawing. But both hobbies still had an impact on my job.

Our meals eventually arrived, two steaks alongside equally large salads, and eating quickly overtook talking. The meals were dug into with our usual gusto, and vanished quick enough, giving a feeling of the date coming to a close.

That in mind, I patiently waited while everything was cleaned up, then told Lily I found something earlier I wanted to show her. Her usual curiosity took root, and I guided her through the backwoods of the forge.

The path seemed even more abandoned with the setting sun, and it made me eager to see the Wastes in the fading light.

I was not disappointed, the shadows stretched on, creating claws grasping out at the dunes and sea. I turned to Lily, and she was just as equally lost in the view. "It's just like when we first got here." She leaned over the railing beside me, giving me a good look at the wonder in her eyes.

"Yeah. It kinda is." I can't help but feel my blush returning as I gather the courage to share my thoughts. "So, ready to hear why I came here?"

Lily turned to me, meeting my uncertain eyes with her own. "Yes, I've been dying to know."

I start weaving my fingers together, my awkwardness really taking over. I refuse to lose eye contact however. "Well, as we've said before, everyone read the reports and the stories of all the new creatures roaming everywhere. When I read those, I could picture the beauty just waiting to be seen for the first time. I came here just for that, to see the unseen beauty the New World had to offer."

By the time I finished, Lily's cheeks were just as red as mine, I knew even in my embarrassed state, that my message would get across. It clearly did as she looked down and scuffled her feet mumbling, "I… don't know how to follow that up."

My confidence returned with that, and I reached out to brush Lily's cheek to get her attention, before wrapping my arm around her waist. "One way to reply would be like this." My words are soft, but my actions speak for themself as I lean in. Lily's head mirrors mine to meet me halfway for a kiss.

The kiss is slow, and tender. The two of us just learning each other as we go. I felt her melt into my arms, and grab my shoulders to pull me in more, before breaking away for air. We let ourselves then just relax into the hold, her head on my shoulder.

"That works." Her breathless, quiet words make my lips twitch in joy while she leans in more to practically snuggle into my standing form. Her head resting against my chest as she spoke. "Can you hold me like this a bit longer? The sound of your heart is just as beautiful as the view."

Now I'm breathless, the grin locked in place, and all the pains of the day long forgotten. "Gladly."

* * *

 **Notes: Sorry if that end is extra fluffy. I am a hopeless romantic and just had to write that. Commander added a little bow on top to make the hug even cuter. Thanks Commander. Anyhow, don't expect the beta thing to be a constant thing, I'm mostly going to want to upload as they come, but these scenes I want done right will have backup to do so.**

 **Anyhow, expect chapter 5 within the week as it's hunts were all farming so that means interactions. I need to have other charactersshow their faces, or I'm gonna suffocate all of us in fluff. I'm trying to hold myself back lol.**

 **That said, thoughts? Fav, follow, review, do as you do, and have a great life. Until next time!**


	5. Entry 5

**Notes: Beta read by Phoenix Commander**

* * *

Morning 8 - Pre-Hunt Silliness

Waking with the sun is normal for most everybody in Astera. The craziness of each day needing to be grasped with both hands. Today being the start of my second week here, I can understand.

As per our usual, I rushed to the canteen to discuss work with Lily, where I knew she'd be. "Hey there partner! Ready for that Anjanath capture Sharena requested over at provisions?"

I grin, grateful that her morning energy is enough to jolt me fully awake. "I think so. I hope between provisions and research, I get what I need for new clothes." I was fully back in my leather gear, the Kulu armor having been too thoroughly roasted to offer protection.

Lily just laughs at my clothing predicament, those handlers and their standardized clothes. "You sure? I mean you were smoking in that Kulu armor-"

"Yeah, literally." I interrupt, trying to keep my blush in check at the compliment. Fortunately, I saw Dorian approaching us, making my attempt easier. "Field Captain alert."

"He looks like a lost puppy, no need to be avoiding him." We noticed it yesterday on our self-prescribed day off, that Dorian always seemed to give this wayward look whenever our paths crossed. Like he was trying to decide a course of action but didn't know what to do.

I lower my voice to avoid drawing attention. "Because it's obvious he has a crush on me. I'd rather not confront that issue."

Lily only smirks at my discomfort, a mischievous gleam beginning to sparkle in her eyes. "Well, while he's looking this way, we could kiss. That sends a clear message."

I look over my shoulder to see Dorian approaching the table with an aura of determination surrounding him before looking back at my grinning girlfriend. I begin to lean over the table, a smirk on my face, before Lily kicks my shins.

"Hey Dorian, what're you up to?" Her eyes sparkle with pure evil, taking pleasure from making me squirm.

The Field Team Leader appears just as uncomfortable at Lily's mischievous grin and deeply amused sounding tone. He starts rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, and I can see the gears in it trying to turn in order to function. "I… uh… I wanted to ask Elizabeth if she'd be open for dinner sometime."

While he stumbles over his words, Lily walks around the table to me and grabs the neckline of my jacket. "Sorry, but she'll be occupied then." And with that, Lily yanks me in to slam our lips, and uncomfortably our teeth too, together. It was definitely a more awkward kiss and I was sure that even to his simple mind it looked forced on both ends.

"Huh- wha-" By the time he could vocally express his confusion, we'd managed to smoothen out and actually have a decent liplock, trying not to feel too smug at the following, "ooooh, I see…" By the time we separated, he was walking away very red in the face, and rubbing the back of his head again, very embarrassed .

Neither of us could hold in our laughter at the poor boy's situation. He's so nice and straightforward I almost feel guilty for having to reject him, but Lily has way more to offer.

"So, ready for that Anja, Liz?" Joy and excitement still sing in Lily's voice as she clears her end of the table.

"Yeah, I think I am."

* * *

August 31, Day 8: Part 1 - First Capture, Bullying Anjanaths

The research commission had gone through the provisions manager to request the simple job of capturing a living Anjanath. Based on my most recent Anjanath encounter, simple might actually be an accurate term.

Lily gave me a quick good luck kiss as I grabbed some basic trapping supplies before venturing off ahead to keep the monster's attention as usual. It seemed extra appropriate because the scoutflies immediately jumped on the trail before even leaving camp causing me to chase after them.

The Anjanath was apparently strolling around looking for prey when I found it, and hit it in the nose with my glaive. The roar that followed implied it was not amused, but the kinsect I had pestering it's side said how I felt.

Those cuts from the kinsect may have been superficial at best, but they bought me the time to leap up and begin circling the monster with flicks of the Pulsar Rod, digging into its hide here and there.

Eventually my blade sunk deep enough into its head to allow me to pull myself up onto the Anjanath. Swapping glaive for knife, I hacked at the head to get its attention, and annoy it enough to charge at the nearest wall. I used that moment to draw my main weapon and vault myself onto the bipedal monster's tail, to keep from being thrown off.

It's head slammed hard enough into the rock wall to stall its next actions, long enough for me to cut deep enough with my knife to create a handhold to help me keep my balance as I unleashed a flurry of slashes with my glaive onto the tail.

Apparently I overdid it, and the Anjanath fell to the ground, knocked off balance by my blows, I had covered it in various lacerations. As it thrashed on the forest floor, I took the opportunity to gather my essences, and unleash another assault on the tail before it got up.

Eventually, it did roll to its feet with a look of terror in its eyes as it roared that ear splitting roar that signals a retreat. I sharpened my blade with the free chance, then followed after it to a rocky slope, perfect for sliding around on to get a good leap at a beast. However, I was at the bottom, while the Anjanath was already beginning to climb, I wasn't going to be able to use that trick.

I instead taunted it with my Windchopper, successfully annoying it to the point the fear was overridden with rage. I used that bloodlust to my advantage, and kicked a paratoad, a little yellow toad whose breath paralyzed everything that touched it for a time.

The trap worked, and the monster was stuck. I waited for the air to clear and the toad to leave before resuming my personal assault upon its scaly hide.

In the skies again, my blade sank deep into muscle and dug the point of my glaive in until it caught on bone, pulling me back onto the back. The Anjanath tried to roar and shake me off, but I held firm and climbed to the tail once more, determined to sever the threat.

My knife dug in, furthering tearing the old wound yet to be cauterized from heat, ripping a pained cry from the Anjanath's throat. I took the moment to drive my glaive into the wound, hacking at the butchered flesh, deepening the wound even further.

The beast remained upright this time and began to make a run frantically looking for a place where it could knock me off. It seemed hopeless however as a second series of deep cuts knocked it down. I had to regather my essences before I could commence with attacking the beast again, but luck denied me this time.

Instead the Anjanath rose up and roared a challenge, bringing fire to its mouth. I would have panicked if a second paratoad hadn't shown itself at that moment. With a swift movement, I launched a ball of sap to aggregate the toad and dove out of its way as the Anjanath charged.

The poor thing got caught in the yellow fog of the toad, and froze writhing in agony. I began another harvest while the fog remained, and still I could not get all three colors in time. Instead, I simply took to the skies and began to attack from above.

My strikes were swift and light, none digging in. This gave the Anjanath a chance to run, which it took. It roared loud and clear before taking to the north.

That was fine with me since I knew of other natural traps to use on it there. Since I felt no hurry, I took the time to sharpen my weapon before I followed after.

My lax behavior meant it found prey in the form of a Great Jagras to hunt and replenish its energy with. Unfortunately for the Anjanath, it was already in poor enough shape that the Jagras had no trouble fighting back.

It was sad to see, especially since it began ignoring me in favor of the Jagras to eat. That is, until I swatted it's nose from above. With its attention narrowed in on me again, I positioned myself by a dead tree with multiple vines entangled in its limbs far above, and awaited its next move.

The Anjanath leapt forward, prepared to kick me with both of it's legs before trampling me into the dirt, but I rolled beneath it and watched my plan work with glee. The tree fell, and dislodging the vines, which were so many that they pinned the monster under them like a net. It looked to be squirming free, so I wasted no time on placing and started hacking away with my glaive.

The Great Jagras apparently had chosen to stick around and slammed itself into the squirming Anjanath, adding to the damage to my target. Enough so that it roared a retreat and began to run off.

I wasn't having it though, and used my Pulsar Rod to launch me forward and sink my blade into the tail, severing it in the process. This aggression unbalanced the beast, as it was reliant on it, and caused it to roll for a moment before regaining itself. Furious, it breathed out a torrent of fire directly at where I'd been. Only I had already vaulted out of the way and slammed my glaive into its snout yet again.

That strike broke the Anjanath's nose with a loud, almost sickening, crack, and it limped off as fast as it could, only for me to chase it down alongside a whole den of Jagras and a great one too.

I sheathed my weapon, fully aware my part in fighting was done, and checked my pack for the shock trap and tranquilizer bombs Provisions had given me for this task.

The Jagras all ignored me as I circled the area for a good location to place the trap, but once I slapped my prey awake, the Jagras attacked everything in sight. The ensuing chaos meant I barely got the Anjanath to breathe in the tranquilizer before it clamped up again. Little Jagras kept tackling me as my prey writhed from paralyzing agony for a third time today, and the Great Jagras seemed annoyed it couldn't finally eat what normally ate it.

I shrugged off the beasts, and started to attack them en masse once my objective was completed, I managed to chase them away by the time Lily could get the Research Commission here to pick up their subject.

With that over with, I hunted down Sharena to discuss materials for the list for my new clothes.

* * *

Afternoon 8 - Construction Crew

It apparently took two more Anjanath to finish the supply list for Hector, as I'd not been able to gather enough material from the captured Anjanath. Something about the Commission needing the beast mostly intact, kind of anoying but research is one of the reasons we are here, so I guess I can understand. The Second Fleet Master seemed perfectly fine the end results. I however was blushing profusely. "Lighten up lass, I'm sure yer girlfriend will love it.

I'm sure she will too considering the Anjanath armor felt very revealing in front. The legs were covered in thigh high greaves with armored knees, and the rest being Anja pelt. At the waist it was a pelt, and a hot pink, scaled loincloth covering incredibly short shorts, really helping to show off my legs. The torso wasn't any better, seeing as it only covered my breasts in front, and was held up by a mantle made from more hide and pelts. Then it was all topped off with scale gauntlets and a helm.

Suffice to say, I was showing a lot of skin, but knew that pelt on my back could cover most of the oncoming blows. "Damn Liz, you'd think it'd cover more."

I grinned at Lily's clear mixture of expressions as I left the forge. She approved of the look, but was concerned over the practicality. If it weren't for how well the Kulu armor held up, I'd have been concerned too. "Eh, considering it still holds the heat of an Anjanath, I think I'd be suffering if it covered more. Besides, we've got construction work to focus on now."

Lily tried hard to tear her eyes away, but they kept drifting back while we journeyed out to the Great Ravine. Her face only got more beet red since I swooped her up to be carried along with me.

The Commander has ordered all able bodied individuals to put in at least six hours a day into the barricades we were building. We needed them ready for Zorah Magdaros in five sunrises from now. The clock was ticking after all.

The first barrier was halfway done, and is where Lily and I were directed to work today. We each started grabbing lumber and moving it to where the engineers and actual builders could reach for better efficiency . It wasn't a hard job, just long.

It also didn't take long for the obnoxious duo of Boyce and Helen to show up. "So Liz, you and Lily are together now? That's cool." I was actually impressed he didn't just make an ass out of himself there.

"What he's trying to say, is that he is trying hard to comprehend how you could turn down the Field Team Leader so easily." Apparently that's Helen's job.

"Well come on! The dude is built and a great guy. How could anyone turn that down?" Huh, would not have taken Boyce to be gay.

"Well then, he's all yours Boyce." I couldn't help my grin at the horrified look on his face in return to my remark. Helen and Lily both seemed to be trying hard not to laugh while we all carried our loads to their destinations.

"Oh no, he's straight as they come. And I'm pretty sure a few lovely ladies would mourn me changing interests."

Helen's replying snort made me look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Please, the only thing keeping you company is your hand. Nobody would be disappointed."

Apparently the boisterous duo always talk like this because Boyce just laughed it off. "Nah, I'm sure someone back home would cry."

"Yeah, back home. Nobody here even blinked at these two." Seeing as those two were lost in harassing each other like siblings, Lily and I slowed down to get away.

"Well that was different." Lily looked as annoyed as I felt, but she refused to let it hamper her joy.

"Yeah, I expected them to make larger asses out of themselves than that. Guess they aren't too bad in very minimal doses."

Lily snorts at my comment, clearly having had to suffer through many hours with Helen nearby. "Yeah, minimal. Try one hour tops before I start getting grumpy."

"You can get grumpy?" I ask, genuinely shocked at this information, then I realize there is a definite reason for her to get annoyed, so I interrupt her. "Besides lack of food of course."

She just rolls her eyes good naturedly and slaps me in the back with her pile of lumber. "Yes, aside from food that woman does aggravate me." I nod my head, recalling that Helen does seem to encourage confrontation.

"Well in that case, once our work is done today, want to go stargazing in the Wildspires?" I smile over at her, hoping that'll ease Lily's mind.

The returning grin answers my question and sets my heart aflutter. "Count me in!"

* * *

Night 8 - Stargazing

Heading to the Wildspire Wastes to look at the stars was a better idea than I thought. All of the larger monsters slept at this time, while the smaller predators fled our presence. The only challenge was finding the perfect spot to watch from, which I already had in mind.

"Hey, remember when I roamed off during that escort job?" I asked softly, not wanting to disturb the calm of night. Lily nods her head while packing a blanket, and if I saw correctly, some steaks and apples to snack on. "Well, I know nothing is there so it should be the perfect spot."

"Race ya then?" Lily grins from ear to ear, her pack loaded for the trek.

I grin back and take a sprinter's stance. "You're on Lils!" The race was fair, considering I had my hunting gear as a precaution and Lily had her picnic bag. We ran over the jagged and weather worn stone, swung on vines over a bit of mire that blocked our way, and then climbed the tower of rock that jutted out from the cliff face.

We laughed the whole run, we felt like kids goofing off again. It was spectacular, and I had the dumbest grin on my face by the time the blue blanket was laid out in front of us, neither bothering to say who won.

Lily doesn't get a good look at my face until after the snacks are also out, but once she does, she can't help but laugh. I couldn't even fake a glare over my joy and the beauty of Lily at that moment in the starlight, her usual energy giving off its own glow. "You're beautiful, breathtaking even."

The words were barely whispered, but Lily still heard it. It took her a moment to realize I hadn't been talking about the moon or stars. I could see her laughter catch in her throat, and the rose hued blush that dusted her cheeks at my entranced stare. "Th-thanks. W-Well, Um, Let's eat. I tried cooking the meat different this time."

Her stammered words snapped me back to reality, and to the fact I was hungry. I grabbed one of the hunks of steak, and with my usual animal-like tendencies, dug in. As the first bite hit my tongue, I could taste what she did, but I couldn't find the words to describe how delicious it was. So used to just plain meat, the added peppers, garlic, and mushrooms made it so much better. All I can do is moan in pleasure at the taste of her wonderous cooking.

"You like it huh?" I can only nod at Lily's pleased grin, too lost in the tastes and eating my fill. I try taking my time so I can savor everything, but it's still all gone in record time.

"Yeah, I think I'll be asking for packed lunches from now on." If the beaming smile on her face had been the highlight of my day I would have been content. I lean back on the blanket to look up at the sky. "The stars are amazing tonight, I think I see the White Fatalis beside the moon."

Lily lays down beside me, looking to the constellation I mentioned. "Yeah, there it is. Amazing…" Her head then turns to face me. "This reminds me of when I was a kid. My grandpa would take me to look at the stars and tell me stories of each one. Like how the White Fatalis stands there beside the moon. And just like the moon keeps the Sapphire Star company, the White Fatalis keeps all the Elder Dragons, its children, company."

I smile, reminiscing a little on my own, somewhat darker, memories. "Yeah, I prefer its story over the Shagaru Magala. The last time I bothered to find that constellation was the night my parents died."

"Life and Death, the wind that withered a mountain. How long ago was that?" Lily's voice softened to mirror my own as she asked.

"That age old story? Centuries. My parents' deaths? Ten years. I've had to work to keep my younger siblings healthy. Never had the energy until I got here to enjoy things fully again." I replied, shifting a little closer to her.

"So, you didn't come here for simple beauty. You came for the beauty freedom had to offer. I can understand that, plus the money here could cover anything back home." Lily nods, closing the miniscule distance between us. Her smaller frame curling snuggly up against mine as the night, and our discussion, progress almost as if we were two puzzle pieces. "Hhmm, I'd like to hear more about these younger siblings. I've only ever had my grandad to support me."

"Well, there are two of them. My brother Ryan is seventeen and my sister Michelle is fourteen. Ryan, I think he's begun to hate me since mom and dad died. I had to work to keep us together, and hunting was the best solution-"

"But hunting means days of questioning if you are ok followed by your return and subsequent departure again." Lily nods sadly, as she rests her head on my chest, understanding exactly where I was going.

My frowning lips twitch upwards as I move on to discuss my lovable sister. "Yeah, but Michelle took it differently. She would stay up waiting for my returns, and listen to whatever stories I could spin over the dinner table. I think her joy is what kept Ryan from ever really cursing my name. He loves her too much to make her sad." The thoughts of Michelle grabbing a tree branch and imagining that it was an insect glaive returns my cheer, as I slowly run my fingers through Lily's hair.

"Smart kids. It'd be nice to meet them." Lily has a faraway gaze, clearly nodding off against me.

I nod at her words and reply with the ghost of a kiss before also starting to get more comfortable. "Yeah, it'd be nice to see them again. Why don't we just spend the night here?"

I hear Lily yawn as I feel her wrap one of her arms around me, as if trying to pull me even closer to her, I wrap an arm around her and drape my cloak over us. "Sounds good. You weren't joking about this armor being warm."

Her little readjustments give me the impression of a cat curling up for the night. The adorableness of it provokes another kiss to her forehead as oblivion takes us. I can only imagine what the other A-listers, or worse, Boyce and Helen, would've thought if they'd have stumbled upon us. We were effectively a somewhat vulnerable tangle of limbs at this point. But, even if I were to have been given the honor to kill Zorah Magdaros myself then and there, I would rather have just stayed as we were.

* * *

 **Notes: Got it out as promised, which is a first for me. Also, recall how I said at the start of the week that Commander beta'ing for me wouldn't become official? Well, he volunteered and at signs of scenes coming out with reasonable spacing he decided to do it. His choice, I just let the guy, so thank him and check out his works if you wish.**

 **Anyhow, up next we finally hunt Zorah Magdaros which I think will be my last stream for this because it's a pain to be consistent on that too. So yeah, fav, follow, review, and most importantly enjoy! Have a great life folks, until next time.**

 **Phoenix Commander:** **Archer is just feeding my want to play this game even more. That and I now have to resist the urge to write a MH:W fic. If you all notice a slight change in writing style blame me... I tend to go ham when it comes to details and/or writing out fluff, really hard to control myself sometimes.**


	6. Entry 6

Evening 13 - Promises Made

"To think, it will be exactly two weeks since we arrived that we would meet Zorah again." I looked over at Lily and smiled at her face flickering in the torch light. The two of us had gone out to the cliffside within the Great Ravine that would be phase one of the plan. There were other people roaming the rock faces too, but we all were here to avoid the raucous of those preemptively celebrating.

"Only two weeks…" I sigh, amazed that it really has been such a brief period of time. It felt like it was only just yesterday that we'd leapt from its back riding a Mernos until we crashed into the Ancient Forest. "Hey, listen, um, I had Hector make something for you." Lily's stammer pulled my attention away once more from the view of the nightscape of the Great Ravine.

I could see she was clutching something to her chest, but in the dim light of the torches I couldn't quite make out what it was. I was actually thankful for the dim light as I felt the heat of a blush start to creep up to my ears. "Y-You had him make me something?"

I could just barely see the bashful look on her freckled features, "Y-Yeah, I-It wasn't easy getting the materials he needed, what with all the preparations for the barricades that needed to be done, and the hunts we were going on…" I could see she was starting to ramble as the pitch in her voice climbed to an adorable squeak.

I did the only thing I could think of, I pulled her to me in an embrace. She gave a surprised squeak, at my touch. "But you managed it, despite all the other work we had to do." I said placing a soft kiss on her forehead

"Y-Yeah. I, mean it's not much but I hope it can help. At the very least get you back to me in one piece." She said, almost too soft to hear despite how close I held her. She disentangled herself from my arms to show me what she held. It was an amulet, the charm glowed with a faint sapphire light, if I hadn't known better I would have thought Lily had taken a star from the sky. It was threaded to a silver chain, as she placed the amulet in my hands I could barely feel the weight of it resting in my palm.

"I-It's beautiful." I said, my gaze transfixed to Lily's gift.

"I'm g-glad you like it!" She exclaimed, her voice still stammering. "L-Let me put it on!" She said, as she stepped behind me. I could feel her arms shake with a little excitement at seeing me wear the sapphire hued amulet, as they were resting lightly on my shoulders while she hooked the clasp of the chain around my neck. She trailed one hand from my shoulder to where the amulet rested near my heart, and I could feel her rest her head in the crook of my neck, with one hand on the amulet and entwining the fingers of the other with mine as she embraced me from behind. "You will come back alive right?"

The question had an obvious answer, I didn't know if I would, but by the Sapphire Star there was no way I was going to tell her that. Before speaking I turned in her embrace, my free hand joined hers over the amulet I was now wearing, "You have my word, Lily that I will come back." I could see the obvious worry in her eyes lessen a little at my assurance. I let my hand fall from the amulet and slip around her waist, while unlacing the fingers of our joined hands, and pulled her into a tight embrace that she was quick to return.

"I'm going to hold you to that, A-Lister." She whispered.

* * *

September 6, Day 14: Part 1 - Entering Phase 1

I grasped the amulet still resting comfortably around my neck. The charm glowed with its faint sapphire hue as it enveloped me in a wash of comfort just like Lily's embrace. It was just what I needed as Zorah rose from the ground, unable to lazily drift through the Ravine, sending up a great geyser of rock and other debris with its arrival.

I was shocked to find out that was how the great Elder Dragon evaded our trackers. While it stayed hidden under the earth,it had used the intense heat pouring off of its body to clear the way..

Commander Sace's voice snapped me to attention, calling everybody to their positions. Handlers were high up, binoculars at the ready to give reports that were being transported by the many Palicos and Barnos that were scurrying about. Hunters and engineers were at the cannons and ballista that lined the walls of the first barricade, unloading salvo after salvo at Zorah.

Hector and I were on cannons alongside Boyce and some others, constantly moving to load and fire. All the humor and joy of the previous night was missing from the faces of those that had stayed in camp, replaced by the serious determined look of hunters facing combat.

I know I was no different, as I watched Zorah march ever forward, never even once batting an eye at anything sent his way. The Barnos seemed most annoyed by it all, because they soon started circling those of us on the cannons, preparing to swoop in to silence the loud offending objects.

Fortunately for us, and them, Zorah had gotten within range of the main part of phase one, the binders. Boyce and I ran to the wooden barricade we had helped to build over the week to stall Zorah. We held hope it'd hold up under the heat and weight, but nobody truly thought it'd be here by sundown.

The binders were at the ready atop the wooden wall, and we wasted no time at aiming and firing the heavy steel bolts our target. I was honestly shocked at the time, of how efficient Boyce had been during the hunt. Maybe he is redeemable.

Anyhow, with our target pinned we returned to the cannons. Apparently, those near the wall had been struck by the frequently falling lava from Zorah's back and were completely destroyed. Only the canons toward the back, that had to be repositioned, were intact. Courtesy of Hector, and the other Palicos, they were loaded and ready to fire.

Again we unleashed our salvo and again the Barnos swarmed. It was tedious by that point, and I felt my arms grow tired from the many cannonballs I had to carry.

Of course it was right then that Zorah reared up and laid down upon the barrier, completely obliterating all our efforts. Just like that, the colossal fire mountain continued its march to who knows where.

* * *

Day 14: Part 2 - Entering the Second Phase

Within seconds the handlers sent out word to catch a Barnos and fly out to Zorah's back. I wasn't looking forward to being on the back of that beast again, but it had to be done.

Slinging a rope onto one of the pink scaled wingdrakes and guiding it was easy enough. Seeing anything through the blistering heat on Zorah's back was not. Apparently messaging also wasn't easy from that point on either because the Commander flew by on a wingdrake of his own to tell me to target the magma cores, before being forced to land the creature back on the barricades because of the heat affecting him.

It appeared, out of the other A-listers who could handle the heat, only I had wrangled a wingdrake before they had gone off to swarm Zorah's back. On my own, I began to roam in search of the magma cores, whatever they were.

Apparently, the name was the easiest thing the handlers could label the protruding spikes that radiated heat, and upon assault lava, that were upon the shell. Seeing the first one really made me think I was an ant in comparison and we truly were mad to be trying this.

I stuck the first core with sap to bait the kinsect into attacking repeatedly, in order to get more strikes in, as I attacked with my Pulsar Rod. It was an exhausting and boiling process. I know my skin is a fine tan already, and I've only just gotten on the mountain.

I saw the core glow a violent red, and begin to pulsate, as I hit it more and more. Until finally it burst in a large spray of lava. I managed to get my Anja pelt to guard me from the worst of the boiling inferno that violently splashed out at me, but my arms and legs felt terribly burnt under their coverings.

That realization in mind, I drank a mega potion before I returned to the attack. This time I made sure to get my essences and stick above the core. I saw that the lava went outwards, not upwards during an eruption.

After two minutes of twirling my glaive about me to stay aloft, my theory was put to the test and mostly proven true. However I misjudged the size of the core and was hit in the legs by the blast. The force of the explosion offset my balance and next thing I knew, I'd hit the stone beneath me. Fed up with the damned thing, I rammed my glaive deep into the core, and watched as the heat escaped it.

Apparently that was the trick, tear into them until they couldn't maintain the pressure to keep the lava flow up. Knowledge gathered, I moved forward through the chasm of the carapace that was Zorah's back in search of others.

It took a bit to notice, but the destruction of the core had lowered the temperature some. That in mind, I used the temperature to locate my next objective, the hotter it got meant the closer I was.

That, unfortunately, was a terrible plan because the walking volcano was leaking lava everywhere, obscuring any hope of finding a target. I did eventually find a second one. It just required I climb up the shell and leap down into the center of it. I didn't like the spot, considering I saw no way to avoid an eruption should it go off.

With no choice, I leapt into what felt like a death trap and began assaulting the core. My lesson learned from the first, I gathered what I needed quickly and kept above it. I had to close my eyes by this point from the heat, but by now had learned the pattern I needed to direct my glaive in.

Without sight, I changed only minor actions. I had my glaive sink deeper as a way to determine how far across the core I had leapt, and used the blunter end to check my footing upon landing. I could feel the increase in temperature that promised another splatter of lava, and flung myself up and away from the impending burns. I told Lily I'd be back and I was going to make sure of it.

Moments later a surge of heat occurred and vanished, my cue to return to attacking. I launched myself, unseeing, into action and felt my actions from earlier repeat themselves. I unleashed my assault, completely drained from the heat, in hopes of it shattering so I could move on.

I got my wish about a minute later, as I heard a release of pressure and a drop in temperature noticeable enough for me to open my eyes. The core had indeed darkened to a charcoal black from the lack of heat, confirming I could move on.

I had to climb out of the hole I found myself in before making further plans, which under normal circumstances wouldn't be a problem. Add in the heat, and constant movement. and I was pushing my limits. At the top of the hole I realized it was shaped like a volcano, and as such I was at the peak. Looking around, I spotted on the tip of Zorah's head a third core and made a break for it.

The core from afar seemed different from the others. It had the signs of heat coursing through it, but didn't seem to be letting it out. Upon getting close enough to attack, my theory was confirmed because it's glow was faint. It didn't give off the heat of the rest. It seemed more likely it helped Zorah control its internal temperature.

Even that seemed unlikely, due to the fact that it was the roughly as big as me but Zorah writhed in pain all the same with each hit I landed to the glowing stone. My kinsect was already buzzing about and attacking, while I slashed wildly. I remained grounded for this one since I found my footing was negligible. If I took a single step to either side I would be falling off this behemoth, which is exactly what Zorah had planned when the core popped like the rest.

He bellowed a deafening roar and reared up, throwing me off his head to fall into the ravine. I couldn't find any Barnos immediately, but my glaive whirled about to slow my descent. I was picking up speed, but not as bad as I would have been without it, and apparently I was slow enough for a wingdrake to fly past. A wingdrake that I immediately slung a rope to and guided back onto Zorah's shell.

The Barnos was beyond skittish however, and it was clear why. Before me stood a massive black dragon coated in bony spikes along its massive forelegs and wings. The same spikes I remember from the Wildspire Wastes way back when.

It roared a challenge that sent chills down my spine in fear before leaping into the sky. My gut reaction was to run away and I listened. I thought my feet carried me away from the monster, but then I felt the wind pick up and dove to the ground. If I had been a moment later, I would've been impaled on the great horns on the beast's head. Instead it soared right over me to slam the ground sending its spikes flying everywhere.

Once that nightmare salvo was over, I decided it was my turn, and began to pester it from above with the glaive. I refused to go near those arms, seeing as they were as thick around as Dorian. Unfortunately the monster was cunning and swatted me away on my third strike with a wing, leaving me as vulnerable as I feared.

Then the unthinkable happened, or at least it was for me, Boyce used a gunlance shield to catch the oncoming attack. Apparently my tunnel vision had caused me to miss the sounds of approaching Barnos and reinforcements. I nodded my thanks to him and we returned to the fight.

This time I heard the commands echoing off the cliffs. The Commander was readying ballista and binders at the next checkpoint. He saw the black dragon come in and shouted at us to drive it off. I'd say it was madness, but at the same time, we were trying to capture an elder dragon. We couldn't exactly get any crazier.

With Boyce at my side, we returned to the mission. I took to the sky in hopes of gaining the dragon's attention, while Boyce readied a wyvern fire from below. The blue glow of the gunlanced grew in size from the blade's tip while I baited the beast into position.

Somehow we pulled off the shot, Boyce flew backwards from the force of the shot, while I maintained my assault. An assault I knew not to lower just because of one heavy blast. A blast that apparently hadn't even fazed our foe.

Then it roared again. The force of it was enough to throw me backwards. My saving grace was that the First's Huntsman, Gerome, had arrived with a longsword in hand charging at the beast.

It reared up its head, spikes fully regrown, and charged too. I'm not sure if bone or blade broke on collision, but I could tell the impact sent Gerome over. The impact also alerted Zorah Magdaros of the monster, and it reared up in aggravation snapping any binders it may have still had restraining it, and after the black dragon tore into it roared its own ear shattering bellow.

The roar chased the black dragon off, but it was too late. Zorah had broken free and was now shaking us off it too as it burrowed back down to escape danger. Fortunately the Barnos had calmed down and Boyce, Gerome, and I managed to evacuate before the heat increased too much.

As we flew back to camp, I watched Zorah's vanishing form and felt frustrated that I couldn't have done more against that other dragon.

* * *

Morning 14 - Promises Kept

The Barnos I rode in must've done a lot of flying because it nearly collapsed over me by the time I dismounted at camp and crashed into Lily's open arms. Crashed is being polite, she tackled me. "You made it!"

I return the hug, just as equally grateful to still be standing. "Yeah, I promised I would." I deeply enjoyed Lily being pressed against me up. I wanted to hold her until the end of time, that is until I felt exactly how tender my skin was from the heat. "Ouch! Fuck! Shit that burns."

Both Lily and I pouted as I jumped back and she looked me over thoroughly. "The hell Liz, how bad was it up there?! I don't remember any burns from our time on Zorah!"

I try not to fidget under the scolding look, but the burns are becoming even more apparent. "Bad. I didn't get any reinforcements until that other monster showed up, and even then just barely."

A dark look passed over Lily's usually sunny self before a forced smile can cover it. "I saw that whole ordeal. It's clear you did more than the job required by that point."

I go to shoulder her to try and joke around, but the glare she returns is enough to tell me no jokes will break away her dark mood. Lily's clear annoyance at everyone for not helping soon enough is obvious, and it's affecting my own restrained grouchiness. That black dragon interfered with an admittedly foolish plan, but it was the repeated near devastation it brought that grated on me. I didn't like needing assistance.

Lily caught my grimace shortly after it formed and returned her grin before grasping my, not too terribly burnt, hands. "Let's get breakfast back in Astera. Maybe that'll help us recover from the mental and physical thrashings we took."

"Mental?" I can't fault her plan, but I'm curious how much she saw.

Apparently she read my mind with her answer. "Once you were on Zorah's back, I saw everything... Except when you went into the largest caldera." Her eyes watered over a bit as I scooped her up in order to hitch a ride on a passing wingdrake back to Astera. "I saw you not once, but three times nearly die today. I don't want that to happen again."

Seeing the forming tears, I press a soft kiss to her forehead and pulled her in closer, hiding my own pain again to try and ease her own. "Hey now, don't cry. I'm alive and most likely won't be in that situation again. I doubt we are mad enough for a second attempt at capturing an elder dragon."

Lily only buries herself deeper into me as the view of Astera rounds the mountain. "I know that. I-It's just… Just that this job isn't ever really safe."

"And I probably won't be able to quit for a while yet, we both know that." I kiss her brow again and angle the wingdrake in to land. "I'm sorry Lily. Truly, I am." My words feel so lackluster. I don't think I could quit this job if I wanted to, and even though this girl genuinely made me want to be able to make that guarantee of coming home to her, I still need it to support my family back home.

I see her scowl again as our feet touch down, but she refuses to let go of me. Her needs outweigh my own and I ignore the burning pain that is going numb across my body. "Just promise you will be cautious. Promise you won't take unnecessary risks. Please, Elizabeth, promise me that."

Regardless of the pain, I pull her in close, my arms wrapped tight around her waist, and give her as deep kiss I can muster, hoping that it can help me convey my promise to her. Her smile returns, I can see it sparkling in her eyes, as she sees how much she means to me. I'm smiling and I'm beyond grateful that she will support me regardless of the stress, beyond grateful to know she will be there to watch out for me during those hard times. "That, I can definitely do. I promise to be cautious and to always come home to you Lillian Rose." Most importantly, I'm beyond grateful to know I'm giving my heart to the best person possible.

* * *

 **Notes: And that's a rap on arc 1! First point of business, you may have noticed a full date listed at Part 1 this chapter. I did that to each part one for each chapter in order to prepare for things my second point of business will address. That point is that Commander made me aware of exactly how long this could potentially be. It's shockingly going to be so long that I'm going to need filler ideas and want to address things like festivals and birthdays. If there's anything you want the group to do say 20+ chapters from now (give or take 19 chapters) review or pm me. I'll put it on the to do list.**

 **that said, share your thoughts anyhow. Leave a review, fav, or follow. Do as you please but as always have a great life. Until next time!**


	7. Entry 7

Day 14: Part 3 - Stress Relief

After finishing our breakfast, and sitting through the torturous debriefing that reaffirmed our failure, I told Lily I wanted to take on some quests to ease my own frayed nerves from this dreadful morning. She understood and mentioned a request the Go-Getters, a group of researchers who wanted more details on the monsters, had placed on the public job board. The group wanted a hunter to study a Kulu-Ya-Ku out in the Wildspire Wastes to see how it behaved compared to those in the Ancient forest.

I gratefully took the quest, hoping it would help me vent my frustration. And that is how I found myself where I am now, hunting a Rathian. I had gathered extra trapping supplies as a precaution for the quest, because I'm not the best at this sort of thing, but that plan quickly changed when I saw the tracks.

I don't know what drove me, possibly it was my frustrations from not doing good enough during the failed capture. Or possibly even the simple fact I wouldn't be getting a rematch with Nergigante anytime soon. Regardless, the sight of those Rathian tracks upon entering the Wastes set me off after the wrong monster, determined to vent my frustration.

I found the green scaled beast in the same bit of swamp and growth as the last time I saw one, and threw on my ghillie mantle in order to get in close. Once I was at a comfortable range of the winged lizard, I announced my presence with my Windchopper targeting the key points for essence extraction.

One strike to the leg, a second to the body, and the final strike landed on the creature's head, with the opening volley out of the way I obtained all the necessary essences. With my glaive now coated in its enhancements, I leapt into the air. The whole time, my originally unintended prey, had been trying to figure out what was going on, and in its confusion I began twirling my glaive from its head to its tail.

It tried to counter me with its wings and tail, hoping to get me away from it, but I was never stationary long enough to be a target. Even when I landed to catch my breath I still harried it, leaving stinging cuts and gashes along the Rathian's body.

This only goaded the winged wyvern into charging at me in anger, and give me the perfect setup to land on its back. The poor monster wasn't ready for the downward spin to its head that launched me onto it and helped to hold me there. As it tried to dislodge me, I used my glaive to viciously drag myself along its back to the base of its tail where I pulled out my knife to hack away at its thick hide.

The Rathian tried to shake me off again, flailing around desperately, but its scales and tail spines made for excellent handholds. At one point it even tried to slam me against a wall, but I had simply spun and twirled out of the way leaving a slew of long cuts in my wake.

I did eventually cut deep enough to make use of my Pulsar Rod. I slammed the bladed end into hide hard enough to throw the beast to its side with a loud crash accompanied by a spray of water and muck from the small mire. With the monster down for the moment, I regathered the essences lost over time and began to leave a flurry of cuts on the venomous tail. I'd experienced Rathian poison before and the experience is one I'd like to not revisit.

The winged beast screeched in pain as it finally managed to get back to its feet and took to the air, my hapless prey couldn't stop me from taking off with it to continue my relentless assault. As we both leapt upward, my blade clipped one of its wings and then bit deep into the tail, severing the latter from the body in the process. The damage having been done, the Rathian collapsed, knocked off balance, and began to flail about again.

I moved the focus of my attacks to the wounded creature's head, hacking away at whatever I could, knocking scales off in the process. I think by this point I had let loose the remains of my temper and stress. The Rathian sensed the shift of my emotions through the attacks I rained upon it, and roared a retreat as quickly as it could.

I began to harvest the tail in order to give my prey time to readjust before I renewed my attack. As I followed its trail, I'd found it had run out to the dunes of the Wildspires. It had made the mistake of giving me plenty of room to hunt it in.

Ignoring the lack of essences coating my glaive, I leapt forward while the monster went to charge me. With a flick of my weapon, I had unbalanced it and avoided the incoming tackle. I had also managed to reposition myself to start tearing into the poor thing's wings, shredding them even further, to keep it from running too far away from me.

The Rathian tried using the bit of tail still intact to club me with, blood splattering from the severed stump. Unfortunately for it the effort it took to get in the air gave me all the time I needed to join it there. Its wings already in a delicate state after the mauling I had given them, after only three more cuts it fell to the ground.

Looking back, I can tell I wasn't in my right mind. I had truly let loose my frustrations, the usual regret for debasing something so strong was nonexistent. I normally relish hunting and I do honestly feel some regret at killing these magnificent creatures, even if I don't always show it. Then again, the absence of my usual regret could've just been from my history with Rathians.

Anyways, I had returned to essence extracting because my prey was now incapable of escape, and harnessed the increases to my glaive's effectiveness in order to unleash a flurry upon its skull. Enough damage and trauma was dealt that it may have whimpered before it could muster a roar to retreat.

I watched as it took off for a nearby cave network, wings jerking and limping heavily on injured legs. I quickly followed and checked my supplies knowing I had my prey now.

Shock trap ready in my hands and the tranq bombs in my pocket, I entered the cave that was its nest. The poor beast was out cold from my unrelenting assault, and yet I wasn't done yet. I set the trap that held it paralyzed and vulnerable, completely susceptible to the gas of a tranquilizer bomb.

With a blast of arcing sparks and a cloud of purple tranquilizing gasses, the beast slumped unconscious to the ground where it couldn't fight any longer. I shot off a signal flare to let Astera know to send a retrieval squad for the Rathian. The team was quick to arrive, Lily had followed with them. At the sight of me standing over the trapped and beaten Rathian, my freckled handler yelled at me for forgetting my actual target, the Kulu-Ya-Ku. With an ashamed look and a resharpened glaive, I set out to actually do my job this time.

* * *

Day 14: Part 4 - Actually Doing My Job

Lily was pissed. Not even half a day after promising to be cautious, I had gone off to fight a monster that was supposedly above my rank. It didn't matter I was literally untouched, it only mattered that I did it, and in a blind unthinking fury.

Her anger was obvious as I left the group to hunt down my actual target. I could feel the cold look of disappointment sent my way as I left the caves for the swamps, it only made my guilt deepen. I still had enough materials on me for the job, just now I had lost the steam in me to fight. I wanted, no I needed, to fix this problem before it escalated. The Kulu-Ya-Ku is a simple creature, and as such I wasn't worried too much about it.

Facing Lily again when we got home, on the other hand, I was very concerned about. I'd yet to see her mad, but based on her attitude towards Helen, I doubt she forgets and forgives easily. I had to find a way to explain myself, I started wracking my brain for ideas, excuses, logical reasons, anything I could say to her when we were alone in order to keep her from possibly thrashing me like an Anjanath. As I stumbled through the muck and mire, I spotted the bipedal wingless bird wyvern. It was scurrying around in search of something to eat, damned things were always looking for food.

I had my kinsect initiate combat while I stood back to decide my actions. Last time I fought one of these, it managed to hold me off by blocking my attacks with whatever it held in it's clawed hands and jumped after me if I kept my distance. That in mind I closed the gap and attacked it while there was no rock, or other tool, to worry about yet. My glaive sunk deeper than expected, injuring one of it's taloned arms before the other end of my Pulsar Rod smashed into it's head, knocking it to the ground.

A strand of my pink hair drifted in front of my eyes, having slipped loose from my headgear while I unleashed my practiced assault of blows upon its body. That single strand reminded me of another time Rathians gave me relationship issues, except those were with my brother. Maybe I could tell Lily of that. It wouldn't fix much, but it'd show I hadn't been completely reckless.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku began to get shakily to its feet and started to try and get away, prompting me to gather the necessary essences to batter it back down. . Unfortunately for it, I had gotten what I needed and swiftly hooked my blade onto its back and yanked myself on to it.

I dug my knife into the scavenger's scalp hacking away at it until it's head was slick with blood, tiring it out further, before finally using my glaive's blunt end to topple it again with a vicious strike. I had to remind myself I wanted to capture it, not kill it.

That in mind, my next flurry upon the skull and beak were all with the blunt end of my glaive, I left the Kulu-Ya-Ku barely able to whimper in pain before it regained it's footing once more and started trying to escape.

It wasn't capable of running very fast with its head injuries though as the blood from my first volley of strikes on it's head had started to blind it. I was able to race ahead of it and drop a shock trap in its path just as it made it into the canyon. From there all that was left to do was simply drop the necessary two tranquilizer bombs when it triggered the trap, and signal for the retrieval team. The Kulu-Ya-Ku gave a pained squawk as it's foot triggered the trap, it thrashed, kicking up clouds of dust on the dry ground of the canyon path. With a sigh I dropped the tranquilizers, its thrashing ceased almost immediately. As soon as I was sure it was out cold, I loaded my launcher and fired the flare.

With the job done, I looked at Lily, completely ignoring the team of hunters and palicos that were dragging the unconscious The Kulu-Ya-Ku onto a cart and tying it down, "Can, Can we talk a bit? About what happened earlier?".She gave a stiff nod, still clearly upset and making my innards churn in panic, but I wasn't in the clear just yet. I motioned to a more secluded corner of the camp, away from the comotion of loading the unconscious Kulu-Ya-Ku. I did apologize, and let her know why I felt my frustration guided me after the Rathian instead of the Kulu-Ya-Ku.

She waved me off, a small frown still upon her lips, "When we get home, go take a cold bath, you smell like the insides of a Jyuratodus with all that mire muck on you. When you're done and I've cooled off, we'll figure something out about all this over dinner."

Those words were a light to my panicking thoughts, and I nodded before we both took off to return to Astera on separate wingdrakes.

* * *

Evening 14 - I Learn From My Mistakes

Lily seemed calmer that evening, her books and food scattered about were scattered about her as usual, whether or not it was to keep her occupied, or in a wasted effort to be productive I wouldn't be able to tell until I got closer. Something I honestly was nervous to do. She seemed up until now, to be keeping her smile which was still concealing the storm of anger I had seen earlier, and now knowing it could fade at any moment I was scared to know how much she had continued to bottle up.

But I wouldn't be able to fix anything if I didn't at least make an attempt. That fact foremost in my mind I made my way, somewhat hesitantly, toward our table at the canteen. Sitting across from her, I could see the exhaustion of the long day plain on her face. I felt it more in my still tingling skin, but I understood the weariness that graced her usually happy face loud and clear.

She looked up from the journals that occupied most of her side of the table, I could now see they went untouched in a vain attempt to ease her running mind. "You said you wanted to talk Liz, so talk." It was clipped, tired, and grouchy. Exactly what I expected, of not a bit less venomous than I'm used to for being an idiot.

"I'm sorry about losing my head and going after that Rathian. It's kind of a habit of mine to hunt off stress, always has been, and back home we had a bit of a Rathian infestation around the time I started hunting." My head was bowed as I spoke, as I rubbed the back of my neck abashedly while I attempted to explain myself. I unthinkingly went to uncoil the mantle that covered my back as I carried on. "I guess you could say it's natural I'd go after one again when frustrated with myself."

Lily's eyes widened as I talked and the Anjanath pelt fell to my sides, falling to the floor of the canteen, and I turned around. There along my back, in between my shoulder blades and down to my hips was, as a few old friends from home described it, a long twisted and knotted mountain range of a scar. I could feel it on occasion when putting on my clothes, the ridges and crevasses of tissue where it didn't heal just right, my own personal mountains and canyons in a way. One hell of a reminder of how stupid I can be sometimes too.. "Back then I was new and unaware. I managed to keep a good distance and was more watching the older hunters to learn, but once that damn wyvern saw that I was the weak point, it soared over to me faster than I could blink, and used its tail to try and kill me. I was lucky it didn't clip my spine."

I picked up my cloak and readjusted it to cover the grievous wound again, and turned back to look into Lily's tearful eyes. Just then I wanted nothing more to hold her and let her know I was fine, but I felt that I needed to finish first. "That scar isn't the only one it left on me, Lily. Just the only one I can cover up. You know as good as I that those tails are venomous. Well, a wound of that size was bound to have pumped a lethal dose into my system easily. Only reason I survived was because the others had been prepared for such an event, but the venom has a side effect that only shows itself if the body absorbs too much."

Lily's tear filled eyes widened in surprise, realizing what I was implying. "Y-You mean y-your eyes and hair?"

I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat and caving in to the need to hold her to me while I finish my story, taking her by the hand I pull her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her in the process as I slowly rock her. "Yeah, the venom being so thick in my system meant my body had to start releasing it somehow. Sweat and urination only cover so much of it. The rest affected the natural pigmentation of my once blonde hair and blue eyes."

Lily lightly, almost unnoticeably giggled against my hold. "I can't imagine your short hair being blonde. The pink and lilac suit you better." I smile lightly and hold her closer to me at those sweet words, grateful to know things will be ok.

"Thanks Lily. My brother took it much worse. After all, this was my fifth hunt since our parents died, and I had returned greatly injured, and my attitude changed. He might have been too young to understand why our parents called me a freak, but that visual change cemented the concept in him." My smile fades a little at recalling all the hate my parents had for me and how Ryan had picked it up.

I realized my sad thoughts had derailed the point of my story so, while clearing my throat I redirected my thoughts. "That was ten years ago. Ten years of hunting Rathians, and the like, and being known as a Vespoid for how my glaives would sting and impair any creature. Ten years of experience that Rathian felt today firsthand, without any hope."

Lily pushed off of me, the look in her eyes hard to read, but I'm pretty sure the overriding concern was all that mattered to me. "So in other words, you were an idiot, but you didn't risk your life?"

I go to lean in a give her a peck on the nose, only to be glared at into stopping, before just nodding. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

"So long as the next time you ignore a quest, and the Commission is forewarned, I'll forgive you." Her glare remains steadfast as I try, and fail miserably, to give a puppy dog look.

I inevitably sigh in defeat, doubting I'll ever win an argument against this woman. "I guess you have a deal."

A grin breaks across Lily's face right before she leaps at me to give a quick chaste kiss on the lips and drags me back to our respective seats. "Good, now let's eat!"

* * *

 **Notes: And back to the normal format we go. This and the following chapter are to help transition and set up the next story arc deemed "Searching for Answers." Hope it's to everyone's liking. That in mind, courtesy of Phoenix Commander's editing, this story is going to start an actual weekly schedule to be updated each Monday or Tuesday to avoid my IPad crashing or writing skills to gather more rust. I'm always up for ideas on interactions between characters so any ideas for casual** **chapters please feel free to throw them my way.**

 **As always, fav, follow, review, do as you please, but most importantly have a great life. Til next time folks!**


	8. Entry 8

September 7, Day 15: Part 1 - A Few Chores

The hot weather finally broke. The last two weeks of sunshine had overnight turned into the torrential downpour monsoon season was supposed to be. I'm not a big fan of the rain, especially in these new quarters Lily and I were given.

Apparently while we were out and about yesterday, the housekeeping staff managed to move everything we owned into a set of private quarters. Although they are still a bit limited on space so we are still required to share with each other, but that is about all. The room has two workbenches facing an aquarium outside the wall. I have to admit it is interesting being underneath a pond on one side of the house and open to the elements on the other courtesy of the tree it was built into.

It's that open-aired section that is my issue. The rain poured down hard last night making sight a near impossibility through the thick curtain of water. A curtain of water that sometimes blew into the room when a gust of wind went by.

So, given the rain, I hadn't been given time to appreciate the new quarters fully. And this morning I felt rushed as well because I heard the sounds of the meeting bell tolling. Lily and I got ourselves ready quickly and rushed to the, unfortunately open to the elements, meeting table.

Everyone was gathered there again, and all of us ignored the weather to go over our next steps. Apparently Lily and I were tasked with crossing the Great Ravine because Zorah had opened up a path with all the tectonic movement he caused. Other than that the only other news was the Argosy would be returning to the Old World to fix our supplies problem that our failed capture caused. Captain Corneir was excited to brave the stormy seas again, but the rest of us were nervous.

With those goals established, we separated to begin preparations. I asked the Captain if I could give him a letter to send to my siblings before he left, I pretty much had to shout in order to be heard over the wind and rain, and was given the affirmative to do so before tomorrow morning. My next order of business was to check and see how the Ancient Tree was coming along.

It was doing fine, given the beating it was taking in the foul weather, but the Botany team was looking into ways to have more things grow around or on it. Thus I was asked to gather Bauble Cacti in the Wildspire Wastes. It was a simple request so, with the wind swept rain lashing me in the face, I went to see if Lily and the Go-Getters had any other plans that could overlap the task.

Apparently they did because they wanted a Barroth to be brought in. While I could do it, I wouldn't be happy about it with my current glaives. That in mind, I trudged off through the rain to see Hector at the forge and see if he had any ideas on how to approach the job easier.

Barroths don't care for the thunder of my Pulsar Rod, and from previous experiences, my other glaive was also inefficient. I explained the matter to Hector and when searching through my materials, we saw I had two things I could do. From past Anjanath hunts, I had what was required to forge a Flammenkaefer, a red staff that spewed fire on impact.

"Ye see, a Barroth is a brute of the earth. Yer Pulsar Rod's thunder only gets absorbed harmlessly into the thing's hide. Fire on the other hand, will bake him like a fish in the oven. But the other issue is the mud on it's scaly hide…"

The old smith continued on about how the Barroth's mud would interfere with its hatred of fire, but water would fix that. Water, I could have nurtured into my Ladytarge kinsect. The full process according to Hector would take about an hour. I spent the time organizing my thoughts for the upcoming expedition, I was not relishing the idea of how the weather could have drastically changed the Wildspire Wastes.

Once it all was ready an hour later, Lily and I departed for the capture. The wind and rain made the flight more than a little harrowing in my mind with the wingdrake seeming to veer off course from the winds, and Lily kept giving me worried glances that I'd grab another Rathian during the expedition. In this weather it would have made it even easier to bring down, as the wind would have made it's flight difficult. However, I did promise to not repeat my mistake during the Kulu expedition, and considering the normal locations of the Rathians, I would be able to fulfill it easily.

Once in the Wastes, we split ways as usual for the hunt. I went up towards the dunes I knew the Barroths seemed to always be in, though the dunes were more like large piles of fresh mud, I almost lost a boot once or twice. My guess was close, the brute wyvern was actually in the canyon leading from the swamp up into the dunes. I'd apparently intercepted it on its way.

Seeing the armored monster yet again annoyed me, but I kept myself rational and had my Ladytarge go in first to gather essences. The wind and rain made it difficult for the Barroth to see in order to avoid it, the essence gathering was done swiftly and I soon joined the kinsect in attacking with my Flammenkaefer.

I started with an aerial assault to distract the beast and make sure my attacks actually hurt it, I don't even think it knew I was in the air because even my visibility was poor thanks to the weather. However, I could see chips in its armor with each cycle of hits, and got my answer and landed to begin a true flurry of fiery blows.

Meanwhile, it appeared my Ladytarge didn't dislodge all the mud from the Barroth and it tried shaking the last remnants of it off on me, only to overshoot as I slid under it, wet sand and mud sliding down my back. My glaive, aggravatingly enough, was only getting every third strike to sink into its hide.

I could tell my glaive was only getting duller faster as I prolonged the on foot combat, but even with the poor footing of the rain slicked stones I didn't fully care, and once I took to the skies again, I even did my best to block out the harsh wind and rain. Once up and above I was able to get a good look at my surroundings and saw that my kinsect had released several dust clouds, swirling with rain water and bits of mud, waiting to be flared up. I gladly did so as I fluttered over and around to them while striking the Barroth as rapidly as I could.

The monster tried to roar in defiance and flee, but at the exact moment it inhaled, a cloud burst and the monster convulsed, paralyzed. I used the moment to sharpen my horrendously dulled I proceeded to pound away at its legs to deal further damage to the monster before it came to, and hopefully make it's footing just as poor in the water logged sand as mine was, which was five seconds after I started attacking again.

This time the creature did get a roar off and ran for the dunes hoping for the safety I would not give it, large clumps of wet ground flying through the air in its wake. I did do another maintenance check on my glaive before chasing after it however so the Barroth did get a head start, sharpening a mud caked blade is not a quick endeavour.

Keeping the wind at my back, that lead quickly vanished because of how fast I overtook it and began to swing at the fleeing brute. I was so in my own world that I did not notice the Noios overhead begin a terrible shriek that seemed to vibrate throughout the area. I eventually caught the tail end of it as I pulled back to gather essences again, only to find the Barroth falling into a newly formed hole with a pair of massive horns rising out of it. Water and muck flowed down into the gaping maw of within the earth, likely what dragged the Barroth away.

Not wanting to lose my prey, I dove in after it, not even thinking about the monster that had gone up to see what all the noise was about. I quickly gathered my essences around the fallen Barroth and unleashed a vicious overhead bash with my glaive before it got up and began to limp. Without thinking, or honestly remembering I was here to capture it, I launched myself into the air and struck it head on, breaking something off in the process as it recoiled in shock and pain. I followed through on the attack, and went with it, only to latch onto the apparently greatly injured monster as I got a close up of its injuries. It didn't even register in my mind that, despite the howling wind above the hole we were in it was relatively calm as long as I ignored the rain that still poured through said hole.

I sunk my knife into the newly formed spot on its head that my assault had made, and quickly created a larger opening to hit with my glaive as the Barroth was stunned from the searing pain all over its body. A pain that only increased to the point of knocking it over when my Flammenkaefer made contact.

Considering everything, I finally decided to pull out a shock trap I had grabbed earlier from the supplies at camp upon arrival and planted it at the Barroth's toppled body, instantly paralyzing it once more. At the same moment, the monster from before reappeared and showed itself to be a Diablos, a monster that walked on its hind legs but appeared like it should be a quadruped from how its weight made it appear horizontal instead of upright. Its massive club of a tail was a counterbalance for its thickly armored and horned skull, and in between were to winglike arms that were used for digging.

I ran over to the paralyzed Barroth and ignored the newest predator on the scene and quickly had it inhale the tranquilizer bombs so I could signal the Palicos to come and retrieve the monster before the Diablos did anything. My worries were apparently for naught however, as with the Barroth incapacitated and me being calm and slow, it found nothing of interest and left the pit, which was apparently its nest, before the Commission's retrieval team even arrived.

With that all said and done, I went around and gathered some of the local flora for the Botany team. Digging through the wet sand and mud in the middle of a monsoon was the worst decision I'd made during the expedition in my opinion. I did also see a carrion bird, a revolture that I decided, then and there to capture in a net to take back home as a pet. I always did like birds, even carrion birds are cute in their own way. With the two completed assignments, I went back to Lily at the base camp and we returned to Astera to see what else we could and probably should get done before heading out into the Great Ravine and whatever lies beyond it. The flight through the rain was still a harrowing experience, could've sworn our drake dove for a cliff wall on purpose… Bloody leather bag...

* * *

Day 15: Part 2 - To Terrify a Rathian

While I had been out gathering the cacti and other such flora, back in Astera the botany team had looked into even more things they could do to help with the harvests that grew around the Ancient Tree. The only problem with their newest research was something that to me was no big deal but Lily made a face that would have frightened a Great Jagras, apparently our trouble from yesterday not fully having been recovered from yet.

I had a Rathian to kill. It hunted in the area the Botany team wished to conduct their research. Considering Lily's scowl, I immediately gave her a peck on the forehead and a promise of not getting a single scratch from our adversary. She said she'd be holding me to that, and I knew that she knew I would be holding myself to it as well. Of course I didn't say that while grabbing my Pulsar Rod and Windchopper from our new cabin. Although I did smirk a little as I wrapped my arm around her waist and held on for dear life as our drake flew us back out into the storm, once more to the Wastes.

I knew where the Rathian was based on what the researchers said, but when my scoutflies veered way off course my curiosity got the better of me. I followed them through the swamps, the water was almost up to my armpits because of the rain. Thankfully I left the vile weather quickly behind as they led me into the cave system that honey combed the eastern cliffs of the Wildspire Wastes. The caves were damp on every surface including the ceiling, it seemed as if the rain was so bad even the rock was starting to leak, the light of the scoutflies reflected off of the moisture as they continued to proceed further in and up.

I was eventually led to the large nest of the beast, footprints were everywhere, and a smaller nest for the three eggs was off to one side. I let the eggs be as I inspected the tracks which were not new, but definitely not old enough to ignore either. The scoutflies appeared to have gathered enough of a scent from everything, and led me up further and into the dunes. I didn't bother looking around since my ears picked up no heavy footprints, not that I would have heard any over the howling wind, and ran across the open expanse of wet sand and shallow pools as quickly as I could into the rocky canyons beyond.

The Rathian was exactly where I expected it to be, and it didn't even notice as my Windchopper began to gather essences, with the wind and rain swirling around us I wasn't even sure it knew I was there. I got a red and yellow essence extracted before it finally noticed my presence, and right after that I had gotten the white one as well. With what in my opinion was the dangerous part done, I stuck some sap to its face for my kinsect to target and harass while I leapt over it and began my assault on its tail.

The wind whipped up the rain blurring my form as I struck, making it difficult for the wyvern to track me by sight, and after two airborne flurries, I came down in a fierce spiral that latched me onto my target region, its accursed tail, and I began the process of cutting away at the scales of the poisonous appendage. The Rathian was beyond disoriented from the constant assault, the rain lashing it's face and the wind making it difficult to hear when my attacks were coming certainly helped me. Once I had begun swinging my Pulsar Rod at it, lightning arcing with each strike, it quickly collapsed.

I had to roll off the body as it fell, but quickly returned to trying to sever the tail. After several overhead strikes, my wish was granted and the poisonous weapon was removed leaving the Rathian with a grievous wound in its back. I didn't feel bad in the least as I recalled my kinsect and moved on to the face and wings.

The Rathian did try to rise to its feet, but with my assault now raining down on its skull, it nearly fell back over. The force of my strike was enough however to make it roar in terror and retreat to the dunes. I had to sharpen my glaive and make sure I had done as promised. Seeing that I had in fact not gotten hit, because sometimes I don't notice little clips here or there, I gathered up what I could from the severed tail and moved on to chase my prey.

It hadn't gotten far with its injury, and with the wind far from favorable it was in no condition to fly, my Windchopper was on it in no time gathering up a new batch of essences. I had gotten all three before it even got close enough to retaliate, and by then it was to late. I slipped under its head to avoid any fire it may have had the thought to breath, the wet sand aiding in my momentum quickly put me in striking range of its torso, and I immediately started to beat on it with my glaive. The monster recoiled from the shock and pain of having its scales broken off of its face, and tried to tackle me. Only to miss as I saw it coming through the rain, steam billowing from its maw. I moved out of the way and decided to rain some aerial blows onto it, and did just that. The only catch to my plan was once I got tired and decided to deliver a heavy finisher, I latched onto its back and was given a chance I decided not to pass up. I dug my knife in and began to prepare for yet another onslaught.

The Rathian tried to be prepared this time and went to slam its back with me on it into a wall. Only flaw was I had warning, as I saw the dark shape of the cliff loom out of the rain,and twirled my glaive, digging in as I went, and moved to hack away instead at the head. The monster was so stunned by the pain of colliding with the rocky cliff that I managed to get my onslaught of strikes prepped, and knocked it over in a flurry of overhead swings.

It was bad enough that yet again the Rathian roared in pain and, despite the wind and rain it decided to risk further injury by the elements and soared off. I sharpened my glaive as quickly as my rain slick blade would allow, and went after it.

It flew off to the dunes this time, and we began the same process again. At this point, fighting the winged wyvern was beginning to feel more tedious and chore like than the Barroth capture had been. Even the rain and wind seemed to agree with me as the weather started to calm somewhat. I hit it, it cried out in pain. It tried to counter my assault, I mounted it. I topple it, it gets hurt bad once more. It eventually got up again, cried, and ran away.

I will note that while it tried to run but rather limped away instead, I walked alongside it and had my Windchopper repeatedly hit it as it went. The poor thing didn't even notice as I landed a blow of my own, it was so desperate to get away.

It did eventually get airborne again, if barely, and flew off to its nest. I found some torch pods nearby for my slinger at that point, and grabbed them before following after it. Seeing it sleep, I almost wish I had a spare trap and tranq bombs to have it be taken back to Astera and nursed back to health after this torture, but maybe dying fighting would help keep its pride intact. Who knows, because I sure don't and to be honest I couldn't really care less about a Rathian's pride.

My body was on autopilot as these thoughts crossed my mind, and when I snapped to, I had slung all my torch pods at the Wyvern. It seemed desperate to run, but had nowhere else to go. Instead it seemed to just stand there and cower as I rained down an assault that made me feel guilty with each swing because it really was not fighting back.

At one point it did try to fight back, and charged at me. Simultaneously my fully powered glaive came down on its skull rendering it unconscious and its wounds bled it out. That honestly did get to me as I harvested parts. The guilt was that I sent a prayer of thanks to its spirit for the materials that would be used to help me down the line, and an apology for what transpired.

That all settled, I went back to Lily with a smug grin and showed her my lack of injuries before we took off back to Astera. Unfortunately the weather picked up again and this time I think our drake tried to run us into another of its kind, I swear these things are trying to keep me on my toes on purpose...

* * *

Evening 15 - All Set?

I had just gotten back from the forge where Hector checked everything I had on me, and promised me a surprise if I left my Rathian parts behind. Trusting the man, I did as asked before leaving. The walk from the forge to the new cabin was a bit longer, and made more perilous by the unending rain I had been hunting in today. Small rivers were winding their way across the worn boards that made up the streets of Astera.

Returning to Lily's smiling face and a warm pot of stew over a small cooking fire changed the dark mood the rain almost put me in. "Not a fan of the weather Liz?" She asked.

I shook my head at Lily's innocent question while taking a bowl of whatever she had brewed up. Whatever it was, it smelled great. "No, the weather I can deal with after all it helped me with those hunts today, just not a fan of feeling cold. Thanks for this by the way." After a few bites, I continued explaining my thoughts. I had to keep from wolfing down the contents of my bowl, she had outdone herself again. "But with our expedition across the Ravine coming up, we can't postpone, but also this weather isn't exactly optimal for mountain climbing. Not to mention a place like that is gonna be prone to flash floods."

Lily seemed to be on her second bowl before she looked up with a comforting smile. "I wouldn't worry that much. I mean if Zorah had upset the environment enough for a path, it can't be that narrow." Her logic gets a laugh out of both of us before we both go back to finishing our meals. It made me grateful our cooking pot was large enough to fit an entire person considering how much the two of us could eat.

With our bowls finished, an awkward silence seemed to begin to envelop the air around us. We hadn't really put much thought into the fact we now had shared sort of private quarters, but I can at least say for myself, I wasn't really ready for it. It was the Commission's call after all. "Any, anything on your mind Lily?" I asked clearing my throat a little, I wanted to get my mind off those thoughts before they wandered too far.

Lily apparently obliged my need for a distraction if the upset look she had on her was anything to go on. "Yeah… maybe. I'm just trying to accept the fact you know what you are doing, even if it is against monsters that are definitely not anywhere near safe to be within a few kilometers of."

Considering our bowls were both placed on a desk, there was nothing to stop me from walking over to her and giving her a close hug. "Hey now, don't worry too much ok? You'll be there with me and can guarantee I'll be fine. And at the same time, I'll be with you making sure you are safe. Alright?"

It was clear she wanted to argue, but at the same time, we both wanted to embrace the warmth of the hug. The need to cuddle seemed to win in the end as Lily nuzzled into me and we fell back into the bed with its sheets already to the side for us apparently. "Alright."

"Good." I tried to get comfortable, but the fact my clothes were soaked through were quickly ruining my pleasure. "Ummm, Lily, can I get out of these first?"

She only gave me a pleading look to keep my grip for a moment before realization sank in, she blushed, turned around, and laughed a bit. "Ummm, yeah, that'd be a good idea. I'll, just… umm, stay under the covers until you peel them off."

"Thanks. It's gonna be a busy next few days preparing, it'd be bad if I got sick." I gave her a soft kiss on the forehead in gratitude before getting up to get out of my sopping wet clothes picking out a soft blue nightgown.

Lily snuggled into my open arms, and began to warm us both. "Very."

I started running my fingers through her hair, listening to the rain as it continued to pound away at the city. "I wonder what kinds of creature's we'll find out there? We haven't heard from the fleets that had starting moving deeper into the island."

Lily hummed softly as I continued to stroke her hair, it was almost cat like. "Well I'm not too sure, but whatever they are like can wait. Because as long as you're in this bed and holding me like this, then I'm not leaving it"

I chuckled a little before tilting her head up to look at me. "You're right it can wait, and as long as you're with me to share this bed, then Zorah and whatever else is out there can wait." I said, giving her a chaste kiss, and though every fiber of my being wanted to deepen that display, it passed quickly. I don't quite think we were ready to move too far past where we were in our relationship and I think Lily felt the same. I went back to running my fingers through her hair, and she nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck still giving off that cute hum.

* * *

 **Notes: Sorry I'm late and I'll make it up to everyone with the fact the next chapter is being finished up today, and will be out this weekend if Commander's internet doesn't die on him. It's not all his fault though cause I had no time to write last weekend which is the only time I can for this story.**

 **That aside, the plot for arc 2 Searching for answers has begun. The expedition through the Great Ravine and what lies beyond. Enjoy folks, and favorite, follow, and/or review, whichever you please. Also suggestions for scenes you'd like our characters to maybe go through down the line for chapter ideas are always appreciated. Til next time, have a great life folks!**


	9. Entry 9

September 9, Day 17: Part 1 - The Wonders of Nature

The rain hadn't stopped for the past two days, and it was making me anxious. I wanted to play it safe traversing the Ravine, but our deadline was almost up. At least I got to prove to Lily what I said way back when. I have taken it easier since we got our private lodging, even if it was just time spent growing comfortable sharing the space with her.

Nothing was going wrong, but like most hunters, I craved activity, something this weather was making tricky. Against my better judgement, I looked over to Lily's part of the bed and gently woke her so we could head out. I really couldn't wait much longer.

She took it well, and when we stopped by the Forge to see what Hector had crafted up, I couldn't hide my shock. I knew I had hunted and gathered materials from two Rathians, and had even captured one of them But to have had the materials for everything I saw before me, I didn't really believe it.

The Second Fleet Master had outdone himself. He had forged an entire set of Rathian armor along with a longsword and a charge blade. The longsword was called Wyvern Blade "Leaf" while the charge blade was given the name Dear Lutemis. Both looked deadly and had a poison sack within them that, alongside the Rathian's spikes, coated the blades in the deadly poison.

The armor looked like a dress of plates. The leggings and chestpiece were mostly blackened leather with rathian scales forged into green plates over the vital areas, the gloves also mirrored this look. but the skirt was completely made of scales, from my waist to just above my ankles effectively forming the dress part. The open-faced helm covered my head, but also had a braid of leather down the back for aesthetics I assume.

Regardless, I couldn't deny the gift and as such put it on and grabbed the charge blade to try out. It having a shield at least comforted me some as I wasn't all that sure what to expect across the Ravine.

From Astera, Lily and I took flight to the designated area where Zorah had carved a path across the Great Ravine. Looking into the entrance of the crevice the Elder Dragon hadformed, I was already shocked. Molten slag lay just over the cliffside, still smoldering even after two days of downpours. The cliffs themselves were oddly dry from the heat and being so far down that the rain didn't easily reach them.

"T-This is unbelievable!" Lily exclaimed, spinning around to try and take in everything about the area.

"Agreed, the power of Zorah is certainly amazing." I agreed, slowly scanning the rough, slagged stone for possibly hostile creatures.

There wasn't anything too shocking during our journey across the ravine, other than the fact that this land bridge had definitely been a recent formation. Thinking about it, the place certainly had its own unique beauty. I saw places where gargantuan stones had fallen and created bridges which crossed the large gaps and where cracks in the earth itself, formed from Zorah's march. The massive change to the area definitely got both of our attentions, the steaming hiss of the falling rain hitting the molten rock walls above us only added to the surrealness of the ravine. Both of us wanted to see what had compelled the great Elder Dragon to cross the cleft in the earth, and change it so much,in its migration.

The answer did not come at the other side of the Ravine. Instead, we crossed through a crack in the rockface out into open space. I'm not entirely sure how to chronicle what I saw.

What may have been either flora or stone had formed up and down the cliff face to form what, at my best guess, would be a coral reef only one not in the water. There was also an incredibly strong updraft from below. It smelled of decay, but it was not strong enough to upset my stomach. It also carried with it a warmth that made the whole place feel alive. All in all, the pinks and blues left me in awe, I was lost in thought about the sight before Lily snapped me back to reality and challenged me to a race lower down into the massive coral.

She had only crossed two of the mushroom shaped structures, they were most likely some of the local flora, before the winds suddenly changed. A cold breeze from the north darted in, and it compelled me to get to my partner before something unforeseen happened. I almost didn't make it as a large blue and white winged wyvern darted at unprecedented speeds towards us only to sharply snap out its wings and buffer us with a gale so strong it broke the surface we were on.

That did answer one of my questions at least. They were coral through and through, and the creatures that lived within it were large and violent. The updraft must have given the coral the necessary heat to grow, and the nutrients would have helped the fauna thrive here as well. I only now notice this however, as at that time my only thoughts were of protecting Lily as we both plummeted into the coral forest. I caught her before we hit the first of many obstacles that would break our fall, and rolled so that the charge blade on my back would be a buffer for me as I was for Lily.

The last few things I can recall as we fell further down, past even where the coral grew, was that we hit an updraft. We it hard enough that I thought we'd landed solid ground.. It had broken our fall and stole the air from our lungs only to be replaced with gases caused by decomposition. The descent plus thin air meant we were unconscious before ever touching the ground.

* * *

Afternoon 17 - What Happened?

The first thing I noticed upon waking up was that my limbs were stiff but not sore. The next thing I noticed was that I was laying on a carpet over polished wood. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was in fact inside a building, or more accurately a wrecked ship. I remember hearing upon my arrival of the stranded Third Fleet, but I hadn't expected for them to find me or Lily so soon. If anything I had expected that one of us would have been sent looking for them at some point.

Speaking of Lily, the only reason I wasn't panicking over her was because right as my eyes opened I saw her in perfect health talking to a Wyverian woman with very pointed features reminiscent of the Analytics Director Smith Weston. She had on a white researcher's coat, but her posture, reclining against stacks of books and lazily swirling a bottle of some sorts, made it hard to believe a researcher was all she was.

"Oh good, you're awake." The woman said, glancing over at me.

Lily's eyes meet mine as my gaze shifts back to her and I nod before rising on my unsteady feet. "For the most part." I grunted with a nod at the researcher. "How are you feeling?" I asked, my eyes roaming over Lily's body, looking for any signs of an injury. She gives me a soft smile as she walks over to sling one of my arms over her shoulders to help hold me up.

"I'm better now knowing that you are awake, though I should be the one asking if you're fine. From what I remember, you took the brunt of the fall for me." Her words are whispered, just for the two of us to hear and the lady respects that as we catch up.

"A little stiff, but that's all." The Wyverian gets a light smile at my words since I didn't bother to whisper them.

"That's to be expected. You two were lucky on multiple accounts. First was that by the sounds of it you survived an attack from the monster that wrecked my ship. Then there's the matter of catching one of the updrafts from the Vale to steady your descent. And lastly, a friend of mine found you shortly after, unconscious, and brought you here." Her words sounded smug and self-satisfied, but the lady's eyes didn't reflect her tone. Those brown orbs showed a relief that nobody wars truly hurt.

I took in that fact to keep from getting aggravated when I turned to address her. "You make it sound like you are the Master of this vessel then. Would that be accurate?"

A light twitch of her lips, the closest thing I'd wager she can get to a smile honestly, ghosts her face before responding. "Yes, I'm the Third Fleet Master Hecate Weston. For what little that's worth to a stranded crew of some years. But I guess with two new faces and what Lillian here told me, it'd be safe to wager we might be stranded no more?"

I nod, not sure how to properly address this Master who acts like royalty upon her throne of knowledge. "Yes. An Elder Dragon the Commission had intended to capture kept going unhindered and created a crevice that can be used to cross the Great Ravine. I'm not sure how soon others will arrive, but you should be free to reconnect with them now."

Huh, she can actually smile. Even though it's clearly in gratitude and relief, it looks wrong to me though. "That's good. Thank you for that news, and I'd expect them to arrive by tomorrow considering you two slept the morning away on my floor."

Lily and I looked at each other awkwardly, neither truly knowing how to behave around this odd, odd woman. "Anyways, I have an easy task for you I'd like done. It doesn't require any strenuous activity, but the exercise should help you to not become a slacker while recovering." Seeing she had our attention, Hecate continued. "I'd like you to head out into the Coral Highlands again to find a place to set up another camp. Consider it an expedition, and maybe even find some clues as to the whereabouts of Zorah Magdaros if at all possible."

I give Lily a raised eyebrow, silently asking if she'd even allow me to do that today, which she nodded to, leaving me shocked. "Yeah, we can do that."

"Good, then off you go." Her smile was back, and all I could say is even if she is a decent person, she really rubs me the wrong way.

* * *

Day 17: Part 2 - The Coral Highlands

With the Third Fleet's vessel being void of anything even remotely related to research, Lily and I immediately departed to explore the lands outside. Apparently, there was actually a base camp stationed right at the entrance into the Coral Highlands, which explained why there wasn't an enclosed canteen at the Third Fleet's ship. Lily made us some quick rations before the journey began in earnest.

The Coral Highlands around the ship was filled with various hues of blues and pinks, and by the Star it was beautiful. I used some of the rope ladders that were scattered around to get down to the flora to start exploring the area. I found Kelbi, harmless quadrupeds that had blue fur on top and white on their underbelly. They immediately pranced away at the first signs of trouble. The creatures were honestly cute so I left them be and went the opposite direction, down into a covered region which shielded me from the light rain. This area had coral veins with the occasional gigantic flower growing on it, and this also seemed to be where the local pack animals lurked.

They were lizards that seemed similar to a jagras only without the frills, and instead they were pink and blue in order to blend in with this crazy environment. Killing one attracted more, and in not time I was surrounded by about ten of the things. I kept my Dear Lutemis in its shield and sword form to give myself more protection while hacking through their numbers. The plan worked, but my blade needed to be sharpened and cooled off afterwards having gotten a full load of impact vials.

I kept exploring the local area, searching bone piles at the never ending request of the Provisions team to see how the environment interacted with the dead and dying life. Some bones had been petrified into a coral state, which I honestly thought would make for a nice piece of jewelry for Lily down the line if I could learn how to even do that.

I went deeper into the coral and flora , gathering anything I knew to be useful, and anything else the Commission might have found useful, which wasn't much. I eventually found more of the lizards swarming an area that some tracks I had found led me to. Before them stood a Bird Wyvern coated in a scaly purple hide that seemed to sparkle in the surrounding light from the endemic life.

It stood on hind legs and had arms similar to that of a Kulu-Ya-Ku, only these seemed more developed, and it lacked any plumage on its head. Instead, the two thin strands of material coming out of the top of its skull and drooping that I mistook for antenna, were actually a form of self defense. With the lizards approaching, the membranes opened up like fans and built up a light that eventually blasted out in a way similar to a flashbug, and stunned all the lizards in a wide area.

I had hoped to walk on by, but the Bird Wyvern decided that I would be its target to vent any annoyance the lizards may have generated, and lunged. I rolled out of the way, and drew my weapons, leading with a heavy horizontal to vertical slash from my sword. I followed by ramming my shield into its flexible hide. My weapons sparked with the vials ready to burst, but instead I redirect the potential energy into my shield to help redirect any nuisances that may have arised.

Such as the monster rearing back to blind me as it had done for the lizards. I hid behind my shield until I heard the ping that I recalled the first flash gave off before returning to my attack. The two of us had been in near constant motion as the fight progressed, and by the time it stood still, I had stored some of the energy in my shield back into my sword, and slammed the Bird Wyvern into the coral flora. The plant seemed to tear open under it, trapping it within the growth, and granting me time to leave several deep lacerations across its skull. I then followed up by discharging all my newly gathered vials into one attack which left the creature disoriented.

My weapons had carved it up quite a lot by this point, and the Rathian poison coating the blade also ate away at the health of this poor creature. I think next chance I get I'm taking a very long break. All this hunting is really bringing out some not nice parts of myself.

Trying to curb my malicious intent, I went to look over my weapons and let the monster run away. My sword was beyond dull and it shocked me that it had kept cutting that whole time. Sharpening it up in the dry environment, the rain hadn't penetrated this far, I had time to think, and decide that I should probably kill the monster. I wouldn't kill it for myself, but rather to put it out of the seriously gruesome misery I had forced upon it in retaliation.

Hell, I thought I wouldn't even be this mobile after my fall, but that may just be adrenaline talking. Second thought, yeah, it is adrenaline talking.

The monster ran away to an area that was open to the elements, I could only track it based on the deep prints it left while limping. Other than that, it all was washed away by the rain. I even had to climb at one point, but fortunately it was all vines so a grip wasn't a challenge to achieve.

Up in its nest, which I found to look really neat considering it was a massive globe like structure of coral, the Bird Wyvern had gone to rest, but was still bleeding out. That in mind, I slammed my weapon down in its combined axe form, with the shield as the blades and sword as the pole.

Unfortunately the force was not enough to kill it, but it did wake the monster and provoke another fight. It was clearly very near dead with how it behaved and refused to let up its assault, but my shield held it off long enough for me to find an opening with my sword to finish the job. The monster died swiftly after that, and as with the Rathian, I gave it a final prayer of apology. I really needed to figure out why I was so extra aggressive lately.

With the Bird Wyvern dead, I moved on to where I originally found it, and began climbing anew looking into more open areas. I had to watch my footing at the top however as the coral and stone was slick and easy to slip on. There were also tracks scattered about up here, deep gashes in the stone,they could've only come from something large. Recalling the monster that caused Lily and I to fall to what should have been our deaths, and its form, I wouldn't be surprised if these gashes lined up with it. I also decided if I found my answer, I wouldn't look for a fight. My body was already tensing up as the adrenaline finally left my system. Not wanting to do much more, I thought about getting a better view of the area and climbed another massive wall of vines. There were pink wingdrakes flying overhead, but they seemed completely docile. They either moved out of my way as I walked near them or chose to ignore me.

At the top of the vine wall, I truly saw what was before me, and realized that I was staring at some unknown sight. What I thought had been massive spikes in the Great Ravine were actually from an area further north. Something that I knew one day I'd see, I just had to keep helping the Commission.

Turning back, I ventured under an overhang and saw the blue and white Winged Wyvern from before coming to a landing before me. Acting as inconspicuous as I could, I slowly walked around it, hoping not to provoke any confrontation. It worked, but to be sure, I dove into a little crawl space to hide in. That idea seemed to work twofold, because on the other side was the perfect little recess for the camp Fleet Master Hecate requested I find a place for. I jotted it down on my map and waited a few minutes before dropping a farcaster to return to Lily and give her my report.

By the time I had returned from my simple harvesting and exploring, the sky had darkened as the sun vanished behind the many mountains. It made the bugs around the Highlands glow and illuminate the already colorful environment adding new shades to it. Shades I only briefly appreciated as Lily and I entered the derelict vessel that was the Third Fleet's Research Center.

At the top of the ship standing beside Hecate was Dorian, a sight that for once seemed promising to me. He gave Lily and I a wave to come on up and join him in a discussion over what was planned for next, and it was honestly shocking.

We were to hunt down a Paolumu, a Winged Wyvern whose wings were made from a material that'd properly turn this wreck into an airship again. With that madness settled, He told Lily and I that we'd be able to return to Astera from here within two hours courtesy of the crevice opening travel routes into the area.

* * *

Night 17 - A Happy Place

Falling down into bed that night with just a pair of boy-shorts and t-shirt felt great. Almost as great as the smiling face of Lily in similar clothes who more calmly layed down with me. The action brought a chuckle to my lips as I rolled over to face her. I reached out my hand cupping her cheek, thumb stroking lightly over her freckled skin. "So, I never got the chance to ask you, and only didn't because you seemed so determined to focus on me all day, how are you after what happened?"

Lily leaned into my hand and slid closer to me, clearly bothered by the memory, probably as much as I am. I've been ignoring up until now, and it looks like she had been too. "It… It scared me. I thought for sure we both were goners when that Wyvern swooped in and blew us away. It- it made me realize something though. Something I honestly suspected was the case, but when you caught me and made sure to take the fall, and when I woke up before you only to see your sleeping yet intact form, it made it clear-"

I wanted Lily to continue, I really did, but I needed to silence her with a finger and pull her in close. "Shhh, I know. I love you too, Petal." I hugged her tight, feeling her sob against me as she let her fears out finally, and curled even closer into me. Grabbing a fistful of my shirt and pulling me to her in the process.

"I love you, Liz. I know it's too early to say that, but I really do. That was terrifying today. I don't want to do that again, I-I can't handle the fear of losing you." I just lay there, rubbing slow circles on her back as I tightened my embrace. I don't think there is much else I could do right now.

Once she did eventually calm down enough to hear me over her sobs, I leaned in and whispered softly to her. "After this Paolumu tomorrow, I'm due for a break. Remember our deal, We'd ease off the work once we had better quarters? Well, in two days is my birthday. I want you to decide what we do. No hunts, no expeditions, no monsters, no near death scares, and most importantly, the two of us together. How does that sound? Think you can do that?"

I knew my words would do the trick. The last of her sobs calmed, and she looked me in the eyes, full of love and hope. "Y-Yeah, I can do that."

"Good." I kissed her softly, and pressed a second kiss to her forehead , before laying back onto the bed again and pulling her on top of me. "Then let's rest up and have it get here faster."

I felt Lily nod her head against my chest as she nuzzled herself into me in that adorable manner of hers. "Yeah. Let's." We stayed cuddled together like that for a good while before Lily began peppering my cheeks with featherlight kisses. "I almost didn't notice you said I love you, you know?"

I tilted my head to catch one of those chaste kisses for myself before looking into her sparkling blue eyes still rimmed in red from her tears. "I was not aware, but I understand. I do love you Lillian Rose."

Lily then pulls herself up to my lips, kissing me deeply, reigniting that desire from last night that I had stomped down on, and kept it burning brightly within me. I let my hands wander some as I pulled her in, but they never did stray under her clothes, or over anything. I just embraced the feel of her lean form on top of me. That was the furthest I intended to let this desire take me for now. After today, it definitely isn't the time for such acts.

Lily seemed to think differently as her actions spoke quite loudly for how badly she wanted me. When it got to the point where I thought she would do something though, she did stop and get really red in the face. "I… I- uh…"

I gave the blushing girl a peck on the lips before leaning back with a gentle grin. "It's ok, Petal. I understand completely, but let's hold off on that for now ok?"

"Yeah, yeah I'd prefer that. I guess it all got to my head just now huh?" Ah it felt really good to finally be on the delivering end of making her blush. Though, considering her, she quickly shifted the topic to something to distract her. "Petal? Where did that come from?"

I laughed wholeheartedly, Lily really was just the perfect bundle of emotions right now. Joy, love, and embarrassment were all etched plainly across her face. I couldn't help but give her a peck on the forehead again, that got a scowl and narrowed her expressions down to simply a grumpy pout. "Easy, you use a flower as your name, and a flower is your last name. Plus when we've both been falling from the skies, you always seem to be catchable as if you fall slower. Like a precious Petal."

Her pout turned into a deep blush and she just stared down into my eyes, thinking over my words for herself, and I'd wager finding a reply to the nickname. I was right when her grin got mischievous and she layed back down to relax. "I guess that makes you a Butterfly that gently caught me to make sure I wasn't injured."

I smiled, enjoying the sound of that. "That works for me. Now then, we really should get some sleep."

Lily again curled into me before nodding slightly, a mumbling faintly, "Thanks...for everything, Butterfly." Before falling sound asleep.

With one final kiss to the forehead, I closed my own eyes to drift off. "You're welcome, Petal. I love you

* * *

 **Notes; Well, I've got nothing really to say so have a great life folks, and until next time!**


	10. Entry 10

September 10, Day 18: Liz, Part 1 - Annoying Puffball Wyverns

All things considered, I'm in need of a break. That in mind, upon waking up the day before my planned for free day, I rushed to get the only job for the day done. I was expected to kill a Paolumu, whatever that was, with minimally damaging the throat area. It was the body parts in that region we needed intact to fix the airship as Dorian planned.

Lily's mind was elsewhere while I prepared. I think between our confessions of love last night, and the promise of a day off just for the two of us tomorrow, she had a valid reason though. Whatever her plan is, I'm excited regardless.

Once I was all set and had Lily's attention, we set off for the Coral Highlands. Returning to the place took my breath away just like before. The varying colors, shapes, and sizes of everything was just incredible. I had us dismount our rides by the cave like area up at the top of the cliff face considering it was closer to our point of entry, and I really love being able to look down and see everything.

That in mind, I started mindlessly wandering in hopes of finding the monster. I found tracks of a sort and followed them, but after some time they didn't lead me anywhere and I descended a wall of vines to keep on going. From there it was more roaming and descending until eventually in an area surrounded by massive stalks... Of pink coral, I felt an odd shift in the wind and saw an odd ball of white floating about in the distance.

At least, at that distance it seemed like a ball of white fluff, until it turned a grotesque pink bat face on me and exhaled in a loud shriek that left my ears ringing. I figured based on the information Dorian gave, this was the Paolumu. The white fuzz disappeared around its purple neck as it descended onto its two legs, it's body was balanced out by a tail that to me looked like a paddle I would not want to get hit by, and wings that were just to get lift off if I were to guess.

The monster went to charge at me, but I slid around it to cut at the tail, noting how it seemed rubbery on contact, and not easy to cut into. This things hide was going to be a problem then. It turned to me as I processed that, and went for another body tackle only to just barely miss and let me cut a gruesome slash across its nauseating face.

I couldn't help but note that this hunt lacked the emotionlessness and the guilt of the previous ones, and actually felt like I was hunting again. Maybe I just needed an actual job to do and a promise of a day off. I still think talking it over might help, but it seemed worth noting.

That is just an afterthought, as during the hunt, it was a tedious back and forth, especially once the monster took to the air with an inhale that left me unsteady on my feet. I put my shield and sword together to make the axe of a charge blade and began to clip it as best I could, tearing into what little I could of the fuzzy membrane it used to inflate itself to help gain lift, no longer caring about the request to be mindful of said region.

The Paolumu used its powerful exhales to attack me from a distance,before gliding above me, and using its beaver-like tail to try and slam me into the ground. Having to keep diving away from that irritating tail was starting to grate on my nerves. While it was close, I used the minimal distance to assault the membrane region, wondering if it could pop or not. The blade of my sword kept glancing off of it more than sunk in with each swing, damn that thing's rubbery hide.

Frustrated I slammed my sword into its companion shield to generate a charge from the phials that had built up energy from the fighting and rammed the blade home into the monster's hide as it went to ascend again. Ignoring the monster's movements after finally landing a solid blow, I drained some of the still full vials into my shield so that it could hold up better to hits and charge my blade.

The axe head of my charge blade clipped the Paolumu and left me little time to evade another tail slam. I dodged it easy enough, if barely, and put a proper charge into my sword to chop up the winged wyvern. The hit was fierce, generating a shock upon impact, almost stunning the monster before it roared to get away. Its mouth was starting to froth as the poison that dripped from the edge of my Dear Lutemis finally found its way into the wyvern's bloodstream.

The sight eased the tenseness in my muscles as I followed it upwards to where the wingdrakes gathered, with the poison coursing through it the hunt wouldn't last much longer. The climb was annoying, but the view made me not care too much while slowly crawling up the cliff until I saw my target. It was circling the wingdrakes seeking food which I chased away while charging in.

This plan was not well thought as the Paolumu swept in to slam itself into me. While the attack hurt, the wyvern was not as heavy as it looked, apparently most of its mass was from the air in constantly inhaled, and was easy enough to shrug off. It's bodyslam left it open for me to get a few hits in myself. The monster seemed more ready to stay grounded up here against me, which I took advantage of, and unleashed a brutal combo discharging my vials into a fierce explosion that left it frozen in temporary shock. Shock I also took advantage of to hack away at its face.

By the time it came back to its senses, the Paolumu shrieked a retreat, again frothing poison. The scoutflies were hot on its trail as it beelined for its nest to rest and recover, two things I wasn't about to let happen.

Chasing after it, coral cracking under my boots as I ran, I found two flashbugs that I quickly made into slinger ammunition and loaded immediately. The pathway was odd, shifting from coral to flora to stone back to coral again. It ended in what seemed like a giant sphere that had multiple holes throughout it and two vines dangling from the ceiling. It almost looked like a giant hive, I quietly thanked the Sapphire Star that none of the larger monsters lived together in hives…that would have been a horrible problem.

Taking in the sight I noted the monster resting at its base and went in for the attack. I slammed my axe down hard onto it. The blow rattled it awake, and caused it to take to the skies again where I couldn't follow. It left one of the opening holes, leaving me to speculate where it would return from. My answer came almost a minute later from behind me, telling me to dodge. The rush of air I felt was followed by the sound of a slam. Turning to face the sound I saw the Paolumu had indeed gone to get me from behind with that attack. Smart monster.

Unfortunately not smart enough as I went in with a flurry of blows until my blade began to glance off it again, the heat from its built up energy dulling the blade. I couldn't cool off the blade either as the Paolumu kept going for low tackles. The thing was grating on my nerves again, so once I finally did get my sword cooled off, I immediately rammed it into my shield for extra force.

The Paolumu responded with a tail slam and fuck did it hurt. I could tell my armor had absorbed the impact because plates were bent and my legs were shaking from staying upright. It didn't hurt as much as it left me vulnerable for the gust of air that knocked me on my ass. Prone as I was, I could barely dodged the tackle that followed and chugged a Mega Potion to regain some energy in my legs.

Just in time for the Paolumu to get airborne and aim its tail at me again. I was beyond grateful for the flash pods as one flared to life, stunning the monster and dropping it with a loud crash so I could hack away at it.

I got my blade overheated and charged again before the Paolumu went to regain its footing, and as it did so, I discharged everything I had onto it, bursting its inflated form and watching it crash back to the ground dead. It's final sound of exhale as the air escaped its inflated region was music to my ears.

Unsure what to carve up, I signaled the retrieval crew to gather the now dead body and followed them out of the highlands, meeting up with Lily along the way.

* * *

Lily, Midday 18: Birthday Plans

I was honestly shocked how tired Liz looked while carting the Paolumu back to Astera. Strands of her pink hair were plastered to her face, she was covered in sweat, and her armor...by the Star it was dented all over and partially caved in. It didn't help that she was riding on the cart too when usually she'd walk.

Looking away from the wreck that was the armor hiding her beauty, I saw Dorian approach as the archway that was the entrance to Astera came into view. I'm not sure if I consciously or not shuffled closer to Liz as he got nearer, but I do know I was holding her hand once he opened his mouth.

"Thanks for this. Now we can get the ship up and flying again." I tried not to laugh at the sheer excitement he was radiating. It almost reminds me of primary school and the kids getting new toys. Though, looking away from his excitable behavior, I noticed another reminder of my childhood. Helen's glare.

For once it wasn't directed at me, but it's presence made me remember all the years of bullying and homophobia. I'm honestly shocked she hasn't tried anything yet, but I'm sure it'll start soon. Especially since I give Liz a peck goodbye and walk away

I was right, shortly after that she followed me, still glaring, I just ignored her as I headed on up to Hector to get tomorrow ready. I had grabbed some aquacore while waiting on Liz earlier during her hunt. The deep blue stone drew me in and I'm sure he can make Liz something lovely with it.

Seeing Hector pound on a bar of metal, most likely to shape it into a blade, as I reached the top of the wing stairs made me sigh in relief. Now that there are witnesses around I know I'm safe from the Queen Bitch of childhood.

Making eye contact with the man and jogging up to him, I pulled out the deep blue stone and explained my plan. A small headband to hold the rock studded throughout like a tiara. He gave a broad grin, clearly liking the idea and drawing up a sketch before telling me to come back in an hour or so to get my gift for our Sky Queen.

I definitely had a laugh at that. She sure acts like a ruler of the air considering any monster treading upon that territory always seems more destroyed then any walking predator. Poor winged wyverns, though the Rathians do deserve some pain for poisoning her to the degree they did. Actually, I'm not sure I can hate them either, her exotic hair is so beautiful with that pink being natural like it is.

"I see little miss Lezzie hasn't changed a bit." And there goes my daydream of running my hands through Liz's soft and lovely hair.

"And I see you haven't either, Helen. So since clearly nothing is new to talk about, I'll be leaving." Hey look, the glare's back once more. Oh and her face being so completely red in anger is priceless. I'm definitely going to need to kiss Liz as a thank you for helping me feel more comfortable and confident. So far the New World has definitely been such. No degradation due to gender or who I like, no politics to avoid said cruel people, and best yet, I can actually be myself!

"Ah but there is something new. I've got my eye on someone, and like always, you or one of yours is in my way." Except when the Queen Bitch corners me, of course. Then I'm either channeling Liz's brash behavior, or cowering in fear. Though dwelling on it, I guess she was only scary when she had a pack with her.

"Helen, I think that's enough!" It's almost cliche how Boyce is descending on a chain in armor that even through the dirt and grime still reflects some sun to be called shiny, giving him a perfect knightley appearance. I'd laugh, actually I am laughing. A full bellied laugh because between these two, the stress from the past just pops and leaves me.

"I'll leave you two to whatever, I've got things to do." I immediately start tuning them out as I climb even more stairs, still grinning at Boyce's flamboyant behavior as he drags Helen away. "Now to and give Cordon a visit."

The Meowscular Chef was also easy to spot from his stand behind the Canteen. My friend jumped up a little onto the counter to say hi, before going back to monitoring his staff's cooking, and I sat at the counter. "So Cordon, got any ingredients you can slip me for a birthday feast?"

The Palico chef only raised an eyebrow before going through all the barrels scattered about and seeming to load various meats, fruits, and vegetables into one. "I'm sure this will do." It always amazed me how deep Cordonn's voice was for a Palico. It sounds more like gravel than a feline speaking. The barrel he carried in one arm that was over twice his size surprised me less. He was named meowscular for a reason.

Looking through the barrel I saw a definitely usable variety that could last a night without issue. "Yeah I can work with these! Thanks, Cordon!" Now to plan for this meal. I'm sure Liz will love it!

I spent the next hour or so going through the foods and my spices thinking of a plan. I know Liz loves her meat, but that woman would eat anything with glee. Maybe a better approach would be what she'd consider comfort food. Considering her job and the other things she told me, I think bread, a salad, and fruit would be best. I can jerky the meat to make it last and be a snack, or in the long term something to eat on the job. I'm sure she'll love whatever I make no matter what, so I guess simple and easy is best. The lazy way out it is!

Actually, that's a good thought. We have yet to go a full day without a job of some sort, be it a hunt or construction. A lazy day sounds perfect for us. Considering the ocean is right here and there's a beach on the edge of the Ancient Forest tucked so far south of the town that no one cares to walk there. That sounds like a good plan.

I may have lost track of time in my fantasies and plans by the point Liz's tiara was ready from Hector. We shared another laugh at Liz being Astera's Queen of the Sky, and even debated making everyone call her it. She is brutal enough. Now to prepare dinner.

* * *

Lily, Evening 18: Simple Dinner

Waiting on Liz for dinner is something I've grown accustomed to since getting here. The woman works like a farmer, sunup to sundown. It's very efficient, but she's been slowly getting more dead on her feet with each day. Also ever since Zorah I noticed her hunts lead to some seriously beat up monsters. I still can't wrap my mind around what happened with the Rathians. How does somebody forget what job they took!

Anyhow, frustration aside, tonight's stew, plus the jerky for tomorrow, everything was prepared long before Liz came in... With damp strands of her hair partially covering one eye alluringly, and nothing on other than a pair of simple trousers and the bandages wrapped around her chest. I'm so glad I've got some practice in not showing my reactions to hot women because by the Star was she stunning. I'm so glad she has restraint because that body of her's just makes all the blood leave my head.

"Like what you see Petal?" I barely can get a nod across as she fills a bowl to eat. I think I've been lost in my head too long today. I'm beyond worked up, and apparently failing miserably at hiding it. Guess I need more practice, though self restraint would be great to have more of right now.

"Y-yeah. You think you could put a shirt on at least? It's...distracting, not in a bad way of course! It's just that, uh..." Liz gives me that smug grin of her's as my brain continues to overload. The same grin she wears before doing something bold and out of nowhere. The kind that really melts me on the inside and leaves me a gibbering puddle on the floor.

"Oh I'll get to it. But after dinner. I still need to take this off before throwing a shirt on for bed." Do not blush. Do not blush. Do NOT blush. This woman is going to kill me. My self control is waning terribly right now. So much so I finally get around to my bowl of stew and eating ravenously like it was- no, I must not think these thoughts or I really won't stop myself from leaping over the table and...no! Bad thoughts, bad!

Liz is smirking quite broadly though like she's just won something. That helps me a little. Means I'm glaring instead of blushing at her, and that I am focused on her face not that amazing body- no, look elsewhere. "Really distracting, Liz…" I mumble under my breath, almost giving up on self control which I have to keep reminding myself of as my brain started to wonder just how hard it would be to get those bandages off her.

"Speaking of distracting. I had a chat with Matthias Fis today, our local psychologist. He thinks I need more than one day off, and maybe a massage." She was now rubbing the back of her head, clearly embarrassed about more than simply going to the psychologist. "I never really considered how much I overworked myself before. It's kind of sad really."

I relax and lean back, mostly down to earth by this point. Now without my brain malfunctioning I can think. "I mean you did go hunting daily for over two weeks now. If I weren't always there with you, and seen how you act off the job. I'd think you were married to the hunt."

Her blush is showing. It's so cute how a light blush matches her hair, unlike redheads who need to be extremely embarrassed to get that matching color. "Yeah, I guess so. I knew why my brother hated me, but it's only just now truly sinking in how much my work affects me."

I must behave. I keep mentally berating myself as I get up to hug my girlfriend. Not having any of my own siblings I can't really imagine the full weight she carries. "It'll eventually fix itself I'm sure."

My Butterfly does relax somewhat into my smaller embrace, but she still seems taut, like a compressed spring ready to jump at the slightest thing. "I doubt it. That either involves we go home, or he comes here. Both aren't very likely." Ugh she just looks so damned kissable. Why am I so barely under control today? Oh wait, yeah, birthday stuff.

Down girl, it's too early and you're not ready. Trying to ignore my searing libido, I snuggle into Liz to get her to hold me and relax more. "But I'd like to meet these siblings some day. It'll have to be fixed you know." I know Liz heard that I wasn't asking about this.

Her exhale tells me she did. "Yeah, I know." Oh my limbs are jelly right now. So close and feeling her muscles ripple slightly in her chest as she takes a deep breath is just wow. Although that could also be her pulling me into her more and my smaller size getting surrounded by her strength. "Someday." Her lips brush my scalp in such an adorable way that I can't help but squirm more into her.

At least I try to until I recall the bindings. "Ugh, you should really get this off already." I know I'm pouting, but at least my hands aren't matching my words. Small victories I guess, because if they were...

Liz's laugh shakes her whole body and again I'm trying not to drool at the very intimate contact. Fortunately or not she pushes me off of her shortly after. "You aren't wrong. Let me change for bed so we can finally get that day off."

I rush to turn around. I refuse to lose my self control again. I refuse! No peeking. Gah this is frustrating. I'm a full grown woman, why am I acting like a hormonal teenager? Oh right, I had to suppress those urges so now with this freedom, I'm getting overwhelmed. Damn...

Liz eventually poked me after the sounds of clothes rustling about faded away and my thoughts were clouded over by food because that's safer to think about eating. Distraction in place I turn to my stunning girlfriend and curl up for the night in our shared bed. If this keeps up I'm going to need to spend an hour or so alone, behind a very secure door. Well, there is a waterfall that'd hide me good too...

"Goodnight my beloved Petal." The kiss I get as our eyes close is soft and tender, but loving nonetheless. Lost in Liz's arms, sleep takes me in a welcoming form. Now to not pounce on her in a bikini tomorrow.

"Goodnight Butterfly…" if I last tomorrow, I'll be good until we are truly ready.

* * *

 **Notes: Sorry this is so late. Major writer's block courtesy of needing to find a way to show Helen's true colors without it seeming out of character. Anyhow, The Log is back in business and now will be having more perspectives! Sooner than originally planned I might add. Also next chapter will be a hunt free birthday for Liz. Is there anything you guys want to happen or not?**

 **Anyhow, fav, follow, and/or review whatever you like. Most importantly, Have a great life!**

 **Ps. It's great to be back to writing again!**


	11. Entry 11

**Notes: Fair warning, Liz and Lily took over this chapter and they went further than Commander and I had intended. The rating has gone up to M courtesy of them. I do apologize.  
**

* * *

Lily, Dawn 19: Trying to get ready

Waking up before Liz is rather challenging. I know her schedule in and out courtesy of our definitely not voluntary sleeping arrangement, but still, she gets up with the sun. Then there's the challenge of willingly leaving her arms. The blankets and bed I'm fine getting up and out of, but her embrace… not so much.

It definitely took longer than planned to extricate myself from my girlfriend's arms, but after about ten minutes I finally got up the willpower to do so. Once free of her, sadly, I went to pack a basket for the trip. Jerky, dried fruits, and water skins. Nothing fancy just as intended, but still enough to keep us from starving, although I did also grab a wineskin. A little alcohol never hurt.

Another perk to the simple picnic, it could get packed before Liz was wide awake and sitting up in bed looking at me. I blushed a bit under her intense gaze, seeing how she was trying to solve whatever puzzle I put before her.

"I'm shocked. I half expected you to wake me up with a smile and your hand between my legs with how you were looking at me last night." There was a smug grin plastered to her face as Liz said each word, laughter barely contained until she finished. Then she doubled over from the laughing fit.

I only blushed a little before glaring. It wasn't that funny for her to still be going for nearly a minute. "Just for that I'm not giving you your present now." That shut off the laughter. Smirking victoriously, I twirled around to double check everything was stored away, half expecting that bird of hers to have stolen a strip of meat. Shockingly even though the thing wasn't even domesticated, it had yet to steal our food and only perched on our shoulders on rare occasions while going over paperwork.

I heard the shuffling of sheets as Liz approached me from behind, then felt her embrace. Her voice carried a seductive lilt to it I hadn't heard before and I had to focus extra hard on the food in front of me to not fall for the temptation she was offering. "Oh come on Lily, you know you want to give it to me."

I'm so weak... I turned around and gave her a heated kiss, not realizing she was leaning over the bed to embrace me. She fell on top of me causing both of us to fall to the floor as our lips met each other. My mind was was quickly melting again and I let my hands wander across her back, tracing lines over the ridges of her scars. I could feel her tongue lightly graze my teeth, asking permission to enter. I couldn't resist, and as she rolled onto her back pulling me on top of her, I relished in the taste of her as our tongues played. Exploring each other, neither of us really vying for dominance.

As I lay there on top of her I broke off contact with her lips and started trailing kisses down the front of her throat, lightly dragging my teeth against her skin as I did so. I could feel goose bumps starting to rise up on her skin. I could hear her trying not to gasp every few seconds at my ministrations. After a few moments I paused at the base of her throat, right where her pulse was, as my teeth grazed the area I couldn't help twirling my tongue against her skin savoring the taste of her and the feel of her pulsing veins. This was a much nicer gift…

Wait! The gift! I jerk my head back, my face beet red from embarrassment at having completely forgotten about the tiara. "Whoops. That wasn't expected." I crawl off of Liz, savoring the last bit of physical contact before trying to steel my nerves again. "Let me go get the actual gift now."

"Hurry back! If you wanted to leave a mark on my neck you shouldn't have stopped!" Liz chuckled causing me to already start losing whatever sense of restraint I thought I had regained again.

I quickly turn on me heel, honestly not even caring to behave anymore. A look of burning passion rather noticeably present adorned Liz's face. It looked like she didn't care for restraint either today. "On second thought, we don't want you losing anything before we go off to the beach." With that, I pulled Liz to her feet and back in for another searing kiss. I was going to make sure I finished leaving that mark and if it faded I would certainly add another!

* * *

Liz, Dawn 19: What a Way to Wake Up

Now this is a wake up call! My eyes opened to a lovely view of Lily fluttering about the cabin gathering stuff she put into a basket, leaving me a gorgeous view of her in every way. However, seeing an opportunity to tease her, I struck.

"I'm shocked. I half expected you to wake me up with a smile and your hand between my legs with how you were looking at me last night." The blush on her cheeks was so worth it. It was hard to miss her lustful gaze last night and in all honesty it was getting to me. Odds are if we got started today I wouldn't stop her.

Of course Lily didn't know that, nor could she through my howling laughter. Even her glare and biting remark couldn't uncover my own desire. Once she turned her back to me however, I decided to let her know I was a bit more willing than she thought.

Leaning off the bed I whispered in her ear, feeling her shiver in need before violently twisting to kiss me. The motion slammed us to the floor and left me breathless. Wanting more of my Petal, I rolled us over to pull her against me. The action only got both of us more excited and Lily started trailing down my neck with kisses. I was left breathless by the time she jerked up, a hilarious look I can't even try to describe crossing her face.

"Whoops, that wasn't expected." She didn't notice my pout at our make out session having been stopped. "Let me go get the actual gift now."

Not wanting my displeasure at our delightful morning being cut short, my mouth spoke before I could restrain myself. "Hurry back! If you wanted to leave a mark on my neck you shouldn't have stopped!" I had to laugh at how Lily paused mid step before spinning around.

That laugh quickly died at the lust burning in her eyes as she spun around and dragged me into another heated kiss. "On second thought, we don't want you losing anything before we go off to the beach."

I barely registered her words as she returned to her former spot on my neck, her teeth and tongue eliciting a quiet moan to escape me as I felt her begin to sink in. I could feel her lips quirk into a grin at the sound and while I wasn't one for being excessively vocal, my body acted for me and pulled her head in. The free hands grabbed her ass and pulled the rest of her flush to me with our legs interwoven.

I hadn't even noticed I was grinding myself against her leg until i heard the gasp from Lily as I bumped her sex with my own leg. The shock made her push back to look directly at me with desire, but also confusion and uncertainty. There might also have been a bit of fear, it was hard to tell, but it definitely cooled me off. "Ar-are you sure about this Liz?" Her voice was shaking with all the emotions I saw, and definitely a bit of fear.

I cupped her cheek while stepping back, giving us a bit of room to refocus our thoughts. "Only if you are Petal. I thought about it and I'm ready." I give her a peck, and seeing her relax at the touch I quickly hug her and push off. "But I think we should actually get the day started now."

She nodded as we broke apart and grabbed the basket now abandoned at the foot of the bed. "Ri-Right let's do that." She was blushing deeply, and I'm sure I was too. With a quick slap to her cheeks to refocus, Lily gave me a silly grin. "Though I just realized we don't exactly have clothes to swim in down at the beach." Though I recompose myself with a very mischievous grin at those words.

* * *

Lily, Morning 19: Cooling Off

I can't believe Liz talked me into this. Then again, the sight of her perfectly toned naked body leaping over the rocks into the waters below might have something to do with it. I barely caught a glimpse of her in all her glory, but it was enough to make me follow suit.

I stripped quickly, goosebumps starting to form on my skin in the breeze and ran leaping the short distance from the rocks to the water of the secluded little spot I'd found. It wasn't far off from Astera, and after hiding from a Great Jagras who chased the nearby Kestodon away, we were in no danger of encountering anything in the area. There was some climbing and jumping though, but Liz was beyond graceful on her feet and made sure nothing fell from the basket.

These thoughts distracted me from freezing up at the ledge and just staring at her tan and toned body. I knew she had muscles, her anjanath armor didn't hide her abs from my eyes at all, but seeing them along with the rest of her was more than I could handle. By the time I came back to reality, I'd already dove into the mild waters of this tropical continent and had Liz trying to pull me under.

"Would you stop!" I flailed my legs to try and kick her underneath me, not concerned with our surroundings. As far as I could tell we'd chased off most of the fish with our splashing entry.

Even though my foot didn't make its mark, Liz did come up and give me an appreciative look. I couldn't help but return the favor. As my eyes roved over her I couldn't help admiring how her breasts were oddly perky, and somewhat shockingly, smaller than mine. It also became clear exactly how fit she was. Even at the threat of drowning I think I'd let her play with me with that body. I was starting to shiver at the mere thought of feeling every inch of her rolling muscles pressed against me unimpeded by our clothing.

"You know, if your cold we can find a little spot to sit on the rocks and warm each other up." That smirk and those words didn't help my case. Swallowing hard, my mouth having gone completely dry, all I could do was nod. Liz snickered as she swam flush against me, there was no way she missed the hunger in my eyes. I'm pretty sure I was doing a fair impression of an Anjanath that had cornered it's prey. "Over here then."

I was escorted to a spot near our little picnic area and out of sight of the shore. That fact didn't escape me as Liz padded around with her arms and feet, testing the ground to find a decent spot to sit, before pulling me into her lap and kissing me.

Just like this morning, my thoughts turned to jelly at the contact, only now it was so much worse as our bodies were completely bared to each other. I could feel her breasts pressed up against my own briefly before her head started to lower to grade my throat, teasing me with the threat of her own mark before continuing to lower herself on me. I let out something between a squeak and a moan as her powerful arms grasped my hips to lift me out of the water to make kissing even further down easier. I was left a mess by the time her teeth began grazing a breast with the same actions as my throat with light scrapes, flicking her tongue over my erect nipples as they passed. My body was reacting on its own to the teasing, arching into her to get more contact, more pressure to the incredibly sensitive mounds. I needed more of her, all of her.

Liz let out a quiet groan of her own pleasure, barely audible with the water crashing on the rocks around us, as her lips started trailing back up my throat as my body was lowered to meet her halfway for another searing kiss. Her frustration at not getting any relief herself was obvious. Her hands, now freed from supporting my weight, were roving all over me, while one would wrap around my waist, oh so dangerously close to my sex, but still securing me firmly against her while the other trailed over one of my breasts. My stomach did flips every time her fingers grazed near my nipples, taunting me with the hopes they'd resume what her mouth left off. I was growing more frustrated with each breath, and readjusted my hips, hoping either her hand would make contact or I'd get some much needed friction.

Because of the waters around us neither seemed to be possible, so I pressed on with our kiss. Heat suffusing me, I began to have our tongues vie for control, neither willing to surrender, while both wanted to get as much pleasure as possible. It was exhilarating letting loose and wrestling for dominance. I could feel my need continue growing worse as the kiss continued on. I was almost certain I was going to find release finally when Liz's hand crept southward just enough to graze my thighs, but the gasp of shock and overwhelming desire left me open to a torrent of water down my throat.

The sudden dowsing caused us to part and cough up the bit of water before breaking into hysterical laughter. I'm not sure if I was grateful or not, I desperately wanted to continue and my body was aching for me to do so. On the other hand, this is what ruined my last relationship.

"What's wrong Petal." Liz must've seen my memories cross my eyes because her laughter died as she caressed my cheek. The concern in her eyes easing the tension in my heart.

"Nothing really." I tried to brush it off, but the clearly doubting look Liiz gave me, and a gut feeling she wouldn't drop it made me reconsider. "Just the past. I want to continue. It's...just sex is kinda what I blame for ruining my last relationship. We ended up doing nothing else when alone, and courtesy of a homophobic village, we could only meet alone." I lowered my head in shame while Liz readjusted us so I was sitting in her lap, free to curl up into her if I wanted, which I did. "Considering I actually wanted more to the relationship, it became a sore spot quickly and yeah… it just fell apart from there."

Liz held me for awhile letting me recompose myself, never doing anything more than simply holding me and being there. "You know we don't have to do anything. Just relaxing is enough for me." She then lifted me up in her arms with a squeak from me before walking us out of the water to our clothes with a contemplative look on her face. "Also, I highly doubt we'd have enough time for sex to be a regular thing, let alone daily. Our jobs are not nice to us and I'm usually exhausted at the end of the day. I'd rather just cuddle and schedule a day in the future to be romantic than hormonally charged encounters whenever."

I couldn't help but smile at her words. They reminded me yet again I was lucky when I found this woman. I don't have her strength, or her honesty. She is so open and so willing to be herself, I can't help but soak it in and find myself being freed. "I know. At least the first part of that I knew. Wasn't aware you'd want me to schedule an appointment to have sex with you." I give Liz a quick peck to let her know I'm only teasing. "And believe me I do want to do that with you. Maybe just not right now out in the open for the world to see."

That got a chuckle from Liz and a faint smile for me. Looking at the beautiful woman holding me, there was no denying I wanted to sleep with her. It was just a matter of when. Or how to work her up. "You know, I still have to give you that massage." My grin turned mischievous as the plan for today changed to accommodate this new information.

* * *

Liz, Evening 19: Handler Indeed

Today was incredible. Other than simply getting Lily naked and us having a blast in the water, she also gave an amazing massage. I definitely needed that, and alongside her cooking, I feel like a queen.

After that, we just settled down to talk and discuss our pasts. Apparently Lily only had three serious relationships, but her hometown meant that they all went downhill quickly. Personally that sounded better than me and my multiple flings on hunts that were just that, something to do in the off hours. Meant I had some fun stories sure, but it made me crave something more, something like I have now. I'm glad to have found her.

We did eventually return to Astera before the sun set, and Lily had me go do something to keep me occupied while she set up dinner. Going off of how the massage and lunch went, I can only imagine it will be great and get me worked up. It had me excited and relaxed in all honesty.

I returned to our cabin as the sun was setting, assuming by this time whatever she cooked should be done. Opening the door to our place, I saw that everything was set up, and I was… well,impressed doesn't quite cover it. Floored, shocked, flabbergasted...maybe? It's a long list.

Lily had set up a simple round table that held one giant tray, like the one she normally used out at camps, and around it were two foldable lawn chairs,something that normally seemed low class, but after weeks of tree stumps, it felt amazing to sit on something even partially cushioned.

I tried to stifle the moan the reclinable chair offered, but Lily clearly heard it. "Thought you'd appreciate that. I just found these laying around the armory and was told I could take them." Her grin was infectious as she reached for the tray. "But those aren't the real prize here."

Under the lid was a steak. Nothing nearly as large as what I'd usually rush off on hunts eating, but considering the calm day it was portioned properly. The smells wafting off of it left my mouth watering, and the vegetables around it only added to the desire to dig in. Seeing only the one plate though, I didn't. "Any reason you don't have a plate too?"

Lily giggled a little as she pulled her own tray from behind her. "Don't worry, I made my own. So dig in!" I needed no more direction after that and tried my best to savor each bite but it was so hard with how good it was. I would've asked for the recipe, but I think having Lily cook it for me is far more worth it. She's amazing!

She also finished before me apparently to grab something from the desk she went for this morning before we got lost in one of many make out sessions today. Whatever she grabbed, she kept hidden from me until I was done eating, and it was an understatement to say it had my full attention.

"Care to share what you've got there?"

Lily giggled, prompting a glare from me for prolonging my unsated curiosity. "Not with that attitude." I did my best to make my glare a pout, a miserable attempt at best which left Lily laughing hard enough for a hand to reach forward holding… something to catch herself. I reached out and grabbed her wrist lightly so I could identify the sapphire blue stones I saw glistening in the fading light.

Feeling Lily start to free her hand, I let go with a blush. "Touchy much." Her words may have sounded harsh, but the smile she had was unrestrained. It was that smile that let me recline in the chair without my nerves knotting up. "I had Hector make something using the blue stones around the Coral Highlands. I think it was aquacore, but I'm no geologist. Anyhow, we decided the best gift for you would be something like a hairband."

With that, she held the grey band out for me to inspect. It was mostly cloth, but throughout it were sapphire hued studs that made it look jewel encrusted. Being familiar with the stones of the Highlands when roaming it the first time, I knew calling them gems seemed accurate, and the headband was beautiful.

"Hector thought it was actually funny to make a headpiece for you. I believe he said something along the lines of, "Make it like a tiara since you dethroned the previous queens of the wastes." At a raised eyebrow to the statement, Lily continued on. "You maimed at least two Rathians out there."

I blushed under the comment, not really sure how to take it. "So what, is this a coronation or something?" I was leaning forward now, nerves a bit twisted in embarrassment. Lily's teasing grin only helped slightly.

"That means I have to put it on for you." Because of my current position, Lily didn't struggle at all to lean forward and put the band on, and to steal a kiss from my lips. Wanting more after this day of teasing, I got up with her retreating figure and went in to get my own kiss.

"You aren't getting away that easily Petal." I twirl her around, catching the playful sparkle in her eyes.

"Wasn't counting on it this time." it wasn't until she pulled me in for yet another kiss and then fell backwards onto the bed that I realized she had aimed us with her little retreat. "Instead, I was thinking of finishing what we started this morning."

I joined her in that joyful attitude as my lips recaptured hers. "That sounds like the perfect end to today."

* * *

 **Notes: Yeah... This was out of my comfort zone and it still got intense. Let it be known that every scene nearly lost control and you have no idea how determined the characters were to have sex on camera so to speak.**

 **Commander: Their unrestrained lust invaded and had me being more detailed in another story too... We can't contain them!**

 **Archer: yeah it got out of hand and we both needed to cool off. anyhow hope you enjoyed our awkwardness and suffering, and discovery of Commander's hickey fetish, that's all on him btw, and leave a fav, follow, and/or review. Until next time when I start cracking down and denying them any intimate moments as petty revenge! Have a great life folks!**


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